BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

on'jf  Glory.- 

1SMFIEM(DM.  (OF  (DIEIIMA, 
From  an  original  Chinese  Painting-. 


A 

VOYAGE    ROUND    THE    WORLD, 


AND  VISITS  TO 


VARIOUS  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES, 


UNITED  STATES  FRIGATE  COLUMBIA; 


ATTENDED  BY  HER  CONSORT 


THE  SLOOP  OF  WAR  JOHN  ADAMS, 


AND  COMMANDED  BY 

COMMODORE  GEORGE  C.  READ. 

ALSO   INCLUDING 

i.N  AC-COUNT  OF  THE  BOMBARDING  AND  FIRING  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  MUCKIE,  ON  THE  MALAT 

COAST,  AND  THK  VISIT  OF  THE  SHIPS  TO  CHINA  DURING  THE  OPIUM  DIFFICULTIES 

AT  CANTON,  AND  CONFINEMENT  OF  THE  FOREIGNERS  IN  THAT  CITY- 

BY   FITCH   W.   TAYLOR, 
tot&e 

VOL.  I. 

SECOND   EDITION. 


NEW-HAVEN: 
PUBLISHED    BY    H.    MANSFIELD 

NEW-YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  200  BROADWAY 
1842. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  by 

H.  MANSFIELD, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut* 


Bane- 


TO 

«. 


DEAR  SIR  : 

The  late  East  India  Squadron,  in  its  circuit  of  the 
world  under  your  command,  has  done  honor  to  our  coun- 
try and  professional  credit  to  yourself.  No  voyage  of 
equal  length  in  distance  and  in  time  can  be  made,  without 
encountering  many  hazards  and  circumstances  of  frequent 
difficulty.  These  have  been  met  by  yourself — the  cruise 
successfully  completed — and  the  purposes  of  the  govern- 
ment accomplished.  Though  it  has  not  been  my  design 
-£  to  enter  into  all  the  details  of  the  cruise  of  the  East  India 
Squadron,  its  action  will  be  found  sufficiently  developed 
in  the  succeeding  pages  for  the  general  reader.  But  it  is 
as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  invariable  courtesy,  which 
I  have  received  from  yourself  during  the  voyage  which 
has  originated  the  following  pages,  that  I  beg  you  to  ac- 
cept these  volumes,  with  the  assurances  of  my  great  re- 
spect and  esteem. 

FITCH  W.  TAYLOR. 
NEW- YORK,  October,  1840. 


VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


S  E  C  T  I O  N  I. 

The  eve  before  sailing.  View  of  the  two  ships  from  shore.  A  bright  omen. 
Author's  adieus.  The  Lieutenant  and  miniature  of  his  boy.  An  officer's 
farewell  to  his  wife.  Social  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the 
Navy.  The  ships  in  the  Roads.  Lines  to  Mrs.  R.  The  sailing  of  the 
ships  from  the  Roads.  Ships  at  sea. 

I  SHALL  never  forget  the  sunset  scene  of  the  last  even- 
ing I  spent  on  shore.  The  sky  had  been  lowering  with 
April  showers,  and  the  sun  stood  yet  on  his  declining 
course  behind  the  fleecy  clouds,  but,  occasionally,  broke 
forth  again  through  the  opening  vistas  of  their  dark  layers, 
as  if  to  assure  us  that  lifev  even  the  most  shaded,  has  its 
smiles  as  well  as  tears.  The  mild  air,  at  this  hour,  touched 
the  cheek  as  blandly  as  rests  the  head  of  lady  on  the 
down  of  velvet ;  and  since  the  slight  peals  of  thunder, 
which  had  rolled  far  off  and  high  above  the  city,  the 
clouds  had  parted  ;  and  now,  here  and  there,  the  blue  dis- 
tance beyond  them  was  seen,  in  its  deepness  and  beauty. 

I  went  to  call  upon  my  friends.  It  was  the  last  even- 
ing I  could  hope  to  meet  them,  before  our  ships  would 
take  their  long  course  to  distant  seas.  Besides,  I  had 
been  thinking  of  other  friends,  and  dearer  kindred,  whom 
I  had  already  left  to  the  chances  of  a  world  of  change, 
until  another  three  years,  perhaps,  should  permit  us  again 
to  meet. 

It  is  at  such  a  moment,  ^when  the  reality  nears  us,  we 
feel  that  there  is  sorrow  in  the  parting  of  friends.  Some 
foreboding  thought,  with  its  dark  wing,  will  sail  across  the 
imagination,  and  leave  the  heart  deeply  sensible  of  the 
shadow  it  has  cast.  We  may  have  much  in  our  antici- 

1* 


6  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

pationH  of  onward  pleasure  ;  we  may  be  looking  forward 
to  opportunities  for  observation,  in  our  extended  associa- 
tions with  men  and  things,  and  promise  to  ourselves  im- 
provement as  we  shall  read  foreign  manners,  and  commune 
with  foreign  intellects,  and  compare  foreign  institutions 
and  homes  with  the  government  and  society  and  peace- 
ful dwellings  of  our  own  native  land  ;  but,  as  we  think 
that  a  few  hours  more,  and  each  day,  for  months  and 
years,  we  shall  be  receding  yet  further  and  still  further 
from  those  we  love,  and,  perhaps,  meet  them  no  more  ;  it 
is  then  the  heart,  that  can  ever  feel,  wakes  its  deepest 
flowing  sympathies.  Such  moments  of  deep  feeling, 
doubtless,  come  over  all  who  travel,  on  the  eve  of  their 
leaving  their  native  land.  Before  this  hour,  they  may 
have  been  busy  in  their  preparations  ;  or,  the  time  of  their 
departure  may  have  been  unfixed,  as  to  the  day ;  and 
various  things  contributed  to  dissipate  the  thoughts,  and 
to  conceal,  from  the  full  perception  of  the  mind,  the  reali- 
ty of  one's  leaving,  it  may  be  for  ever,  those  hearts  to 
whom  his  is  most  devoted.  But  the  calm  hour  that  pre- 
cedes his  departure  has  now  come.  The  moment  is 
fixed,  and  he  is  to  bid  adieu,  for  years,  to  the  objects  he 
holds  dearest  of  earth. 

My  own  moveables  had  been  sent  on  board  the  Colum- 
bia. We  were  to  sail  the  next  day.  This  evening  I  met 
the  welcome  of  my  friends.  With  two  of  them  I  walked 
to  the  edge  of  the  stream,  on  the  bosom  of  which  the 
two  ships  were  now  so  gently  reposing,  still  half  en- 
veloped in  the  fog  that  weighed  on  the  still  surface  of 
the  stream.  But  it  soon  lifted,  while  we  yet  lingered  on 
the  green  bank  and  heard  the  music  beat  the  call,  as  the 
sun  went  down  in  its  glory  behind  the  pillars  of  the  dark 
clouds,  piled  like  Alps  on  Alps  above  each  other,  as  the 
sunbeams  threw  upon  their  castellated  peaks  the  last 
gleams  of  its  departing  and  indescribable  glories.  Here 
we  still  lingered,  to  watch  the  tints  of  gold,  and  crimson, 
and  emerald  green,  as  they  melted  away  into  the  dun  of 
earliest  twilight ;  when,  as  if  Ify  magic,  the  still  lingering 
stratum  of  vapor,  which  hung  around  the  two  ships, 
rolled  back,  and  left  every  cord  of  the  beautiful  frigate 
and  her  consort  lined  on  the  distant  horizon  beyond  them ; 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  7 

while  the  crescent  of  the  new  moon,  from  the^point 
where  we  were  standing,  seemed  fixed,  in  its  morrBlary 
rest,  on  the  main-truck  of  the  beautiful  Columbia.  Surely, 
if  I  could  have  ever  believed  in  omens,  1  should  have  in- 
terpreted this  as  a  bright  one,  as  I  carried  on  my  thoughts 
to  the  lands  whither  that  dark  courser  was  soon  to  speed, 
and  heard  at  the  same  moment  the  roll,  as  the  few  beats 
of  the  drum  came  over  the  water,  only  to  render  doubly 
more  still  the  breathless  silence  of  this  enchanting  scene. 

We  slowly  paced  our  way  back  to  the  circle  which 
we  had  left,  and  soon,  my  last  land-adieu  was  spoken ; 
and  the  next  morning,  at  sunrise,  I  was  on  board  our  gal- 
lant ship.  In  another  half-hour  our  anchors  were  aweigh, 
and  we  dropped,  with  a  fair  wind,  down  to  the  Roads, 
some  fifteen  miles  from  Norfolk,  with  the  John  Adams, 
our  consort,  following  our  motions. 

While  our  new  ship  was  gliding,  like  enchantment, 
through  the  waters  from  Norfolk  to  the  Roads,  to  the  de- 
light of  all  the  officers,  who  were  solicitous  to  mark  her 
first  movements,  and  were  trimming  the  yards,  and  di- 
recting as  to  the  different  sails,  there  was  one  officer, 
whose  epaulet  (usually  worn  when  on  duty)  rested  not 
upon  his  shoulder.  He  stood  upon  the  horse-block,  as 
the  side-steps  of  the  ship  are  called,  his  elbow  resting 
upon  the  hammock-nettings,  and  sometimes  his  temples 
rested  upon  his  hand.  I  know  not  what  were  his  thoughts, 
but  he  had  been  unwell,  and  was  yet  off  duty,  and  had  now 
parted  with  a  loved  and  lovely  wife,  and  a  cherished  boy, 
who  is  his  "  only  and  beautiful."  He  did  not  long  re- 
main on  deck,  but  returned  to  the  ward-room  ;  and  there, 
soon  after,  he  showed  me,  as  I  went  below  and  found  him 
contemplating  it,  a  beautiful  picture  and  striking  resem- 
blance of  his  child,  which  the  mother  had  caused  to  be 
taken  for  the  father,  that  it  might  go  with  him  on  the 
seas. 

Another  officer  said  to  me  last  evening,  as  he  was 
walking  in  Norfolk  with  some  rapidity  in  the  edge  of 
the  evening  to  say  adieu  to  his  wife  before  he  went  on 
board,  "  Death  were  a  blessing  to  me  rather  than  this 
farewell !" 

There  is  much  in  the  world  which  casts  its  mists,  and 


8  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

shadows,  and  darkness  over  its  brightest  views.  But 
there 'tire  those  feelings  constantly  heing  developed  before 
us,  which  make  us  look  with  a  kind  and  melting  heart,  if 
not  with  a  melting  eye,  on  those  with  whom  we  asso- 
ciate. And  nowhere  more  than  in  the  service  of  the  navy 
are  the  social  feelings  called  on  to  pour  out  those  bitter 
currents,  which  flow  when  hearts  that  are  bound  together 
by  the  ties  of  hallowed  love  are  severed.  And  surely,  some 
consideration  should  be  awarded  to  those  men,  who  not 
only  brave  the  seas,  and  dare  pestiferous  climes  for  the 
protection  of  our  commerce  and  for  the  tranquillity  and 
defence  of  our  homes  and  nation,  but  also  leave  the 
sweets  of  their  own  domestic  circles  and  the  bosoms  of  at- 
tached friends  for  a  home  upon  the  wild  wave,  and  the 
precarious  course  of  the  wanderers  on  the  world's  wide 
ocean. 

Our  ships,  for  one  week,  lay  at  anchor  in  Hampton 
Roads.  There  was  a  daily  communication  with  Norfolk 
by  the  steamer,  which  ran  from  Old  Point  to  the  city. 
Many  parting  mementoes  from  friends  were  thus  received 
by  the  gentlemen  of  the  ward-room,  during  our  week's 
stay ;  and  an  occasional  visiter  from  town  was  found 
upon  our  decks.  Among  other  acceptable  attentions,  to 
be  acknowledged  on  my  own  part,  was  the  reception  of 
a  fine  loaf  of  plumb-cake,  jars  of  pickles,  and,  daily,  rich 
bouquets  of  flowers  "  to  deck  my  tiny  room,"  which  were 
unsurpassed  for  their  beauty  and  fragrance  by  any  col- 
lection that  could  have  been  made,  even  from  that  island 
of  flowers  for  which  we  were  first  to  sail.  And  then, 
more  acceptable  than  all,  were  letters,  "  to  be  opened 
when  at  sea." 

Commodore  Read's  lady  had  spent  the  week  on  board 
the  Columbia ;  and  by  her  courteous,  accomplished,  and 
benevolent  manners,  won  the  high  consideration  and  as- 
sured esteem  of  the  officers  of  the  ship.  We  were  to 
sail,  by  light,  on  Sunday  morning,  for  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
touching  first  at  the  island  of  Madeira,  should  the  wind 
favor  our  wishes.  On  Saturday  evening  Mrs.  R.,  who 
had  been  waited  upon  by  Major  M.'s  family,  then  sta- 
tioned at  Old  Point,  accompanied  them  to  the  shore.  The 
incident  of  her  leaving  on  the  eve  of  our  sailing,  under 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  9 

the  broad  pennant  of  her  husband,  will  render  an  apology 
unnecessary  for  the  introduction  of  the  following  lines, 
addressed  to  her  at  such  a  moment,  and  with  the  felt  in- 
terest they  express : 

TO  MRS.  R. 

On  the  eve  of  the  sailing  of  the  East  India  Squadron,  under  the  command  of  Commodore 
George  C.  Read. 

Lady,  calmly  rides  our  bark 

On  the  green  wave  of  the  bay, 
But  like  a  charger  soon  will  take 

Her  fleet  and  distant  way. 
Proudly  waves  her  pennant  now 

From  main-truck  to  the  breeze, 
And  soon  in  graceful  curve  she'll  bow, 

And  course  for  Indian  seas. 

Music  of  the  sea-surge  oft 

Hath  met  thy  lady  ear, 
And  firm  as  fearless  men  aloft 

The  sea-moan  thou  didst  hear. 
Beauty  of  the  witching  calm 
-  Hath  held  thy  gaze  at  sea, 
As  in  its  stilly  ocean-sheen 

The  blue  deep  smiled  for  thee. 

And  song,  they  say,  once  could  charm 

The  Nereids  of  the  deep; 
Then  sure  thy  notes  had  spells  for  them 

As  ocean  lulled  to  sleep. 
Would  that  now  that  gifted  hand 

Upon  our  course  might  come, 
And  while  we  wept  beneath  its  wand, 

In  tears  we'd  think  of  home  : 

Home  !  where  oft  a  sister's  tone, 

In  sweetest  melody, 
Hath  on  the  heart  its  cadence  thrown, 

And  broke  it  tearfully  ; — 
Home  !  where  truest  hearts  of  love 

For  each  their  feelings  mete, 
And  we  but  smile,  or  sigh,  or  move, 

And  kindred  bosoms  beat 

But,  fair  lady,  not  again 

The  wild  wave  thou  dost  d^re, 
Though  with  thy  lord  we  plough  the  main, 

And  his  broad  pennant  bear  ; 


10  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Still  thy  night-dreams  and  of  day 

Will  paint  their  visions  true, 
And  trace  us  to  yon  lands  and  sea, 

Where  suns  first  loom  to  view. 

And  O  !  thou  wilt  pray  for  him 

Who  guides  our  gallant  fleet, 
And  never  woman's  prayer  hath  been 

By  heaven  unanswered  yet. 
Then  we'll  trust  us  on  our  course, 

And  think  of  those  who  pray, 
And  as  our  thoughts  on  them  repose, 

For  them  a  prayer  we'll  say. 

But,  adieu  we  now  must  speak, 

And  storms  of  ocean  dare  ; 
And  on  the  crested  billow's  peak 

Is  home  that  we  must  share  ; 
But  for  thee  we've  asked  a  sty 

Calm  as  the  breath  of  even, 
And  bright  as  gleams  the  loveliest  ray 

On  home,  in  smiles,  from  heaven. 

On  the  6th  of  May,  1838,  at  daybreak,  all  hands  were 
piped  to-  unmoor  ship,  and  a  bright  sun  let  fall  his  earliest 
beam  on  our  white  sails,  as  we  were  standing  by  the  long 
granite  line  of  threatening  fortification  at  Old  Point.  Ano- 
ther hour  and  we  had  passed  Cape  Henry,  and  with  a 
fair  breeze  stood  on  our  course  upon  the  blue  deep,  while 
the  John  Adams  came  on  in  our  wake,  as  a  thing  of  ani- 
mation, graceful  as  she  was  fleet,  and  like  a  nettled  steed, 
unwilling  to  be  parted  from  his  associate,  she  put  forth 
her  strength  and  regained  the  side  of  her  companion. 

Beautiful  ships !  now  are  ye  now  the  objects  of  the 
thoughts,  and  the  prayers,  and  the  tears,  of  tender  hearts 
and  floating  eyes,  from  whom  ye  are  now  bearing  the 
choicest  of  their  earthly  treasures  above  the  fickle  wave 
toWbreign  climes,  through  dangers  known  and  unknown, 
with  the  chances  that  ye  yourselves  may  be  dashed  upon 
the  rock  and  the  coral  reef,  or  wrecked  in  storm  and  hur- 
ricane, as  a  sacrifice  to  the  yet  uncompleted  millions, 
who  are  to  find  thgir  burial  in  the  insatiable  bosom  of  the 
eternal  ocean  !  Bat  ye  list  not  while  we  would  tell  ye, 
that  there  are  mothers'  prayers  that  attend  you,  that  there 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  11 

are  sighs  of  sisters,  whose  young  hearts  have  yet  known 
no  deeper  love  than  that  for  brothers ;  and  tears,  and 
sighs,  and  prayers  of  others,  whose  hearts  in  their  devo- 
tion and  companionship,  they  say,  are  yet  dearer  than 
the  love  of  mother  and  sister,  follow  you.  Be  gentle 
then,  beautiful  ships,  be  gentle  with  the  choice  band,  who 
have  trusted  you  for  their  long  course  of  ocean,  and  bear 
back  to  the  renewed  gush  of  love,  the  bosoms  who  have 
confided  in  your  stanch  and  faithful  properties,  to  bear 
them  safe  and  true  in  their  circuit  of  the  world. 

I  had  now  placed  myself  on  the  side-steps  of  the  fri- 
gate, and  gazed  for  the  last  time,  I  could  not  tell  for  how 
long  a  period  it  would  be,  on  the  land  of  my  home  fast 
receding  in  the  distance.  The  heart  has  its  private  mu- 
sings at  such  a  moment,  and  communes  too  sacredly  with 
itself  for  development  to  the  eye  of  an  unsympathizing 
world.  But  there  were  friends  who  had  more  than  one 
sigh,  as  the  distant  shore  sunk  lower,  and  lower  still,  in 
the  dim,  dim  distance. 

The  blue  surge,  in  its  sea-roll,  now  quite  concealed  the 
land  of  our  western  homes,  as  our  ships,  heartless  rovers 
of  the  deep,  stood  on  their  foaming  course  to  the  east.  I 
sought  the  retirement  of  my  state-room,  for  the  melan- 
choly pleasure  of  perusing  the  letters  addressed  to  me 
on  board  "  The  Frigate  Columbia,  at  Sea." 


SECTION  II. 

Sailors'  debts  paid  with  the  main-top-sail.  Broad  pennant  saluted.  System 
of  signals.  How  to  shoot  an  Indian.  An  acting  appointment.  Reli- 
gious service  at  sea.  Marine  hymn.  Dinner  party  at  sea.  Parting  with 
the  John  Adams.  The  middle  watch.  Speaking  a  ship.  Phosphorescent 
track  of  the  Columbia  at  night.  Music.  Sunset.  A  seaman  falling  from 
aloft.  Burial  at  sea.  Its  effect  on  a  young  Midshipman.  A  ship  short 
of  provisions,  supplied.  The  John  Adams  again  in  company.  The  high 
peaks  of  Madeira  descried.  Distant  view  of  the  island  on  the  eve  of  the 
squadron's  arrival. 

"  THANK  heaven  !"  said  a  messmate,  as  the  capes  were 
disappearing,  "  our  debts  are  all  paid,  at  least,  for  two 


12  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

years  to  come."  "  Yes,"  added  another,  "  paid  with  our 
main-top-sail"  True  it  is,  our  sails  are  bearing  us  fast 
alike  from  creditor  and  debtor,  from  enemy,  friend,  and 
home. 

As  the  broad  blue  pennant  was  run  up,  after  we  had  left 
the  last  point  of  land  low  in  the  west,  the  John  Adams 
fired  a  salute.  The  Commodore,  by  signals,  directed  our 
consort  to  take  her  position  on  our  larboard  quarter.  As 
she  came  down  to  us,  she  exhibited  a  beautiful  movement, 
gracefully  gliding  on  her  course,  bowing,  and  courtesying, 
and  coquetting,  like  a  beauty  aware  of  her  charms,  and 
knowing  herself  the  object  of  admiration.  She  luffed  up, 
as  she  laid  her  bows  obliquely  across  our  wake.  Our  first 
Lieutenant,  with  the  trumpet  in  his  hand,  stood  upon  the 
tafferel  of  the  ship,  and  as  the  Adams  reached  her  nearest 
point,  he  spoke  through  the  sounding  tube : 

"  The  Commodore  will  send  a  boat  aboard  of  you,  sir." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  was  the  sententious  response  of  the  of- 
ficer, from  the  deck  of  the  Adams.  The  two  ships  came 
so  nearly  together,  that  the  officers  recognised  each  other, 
and  touched  their  caps  in  acknowledgment  of  each  other's 
courtesy. 

It  is  not  an  uninteresting  sight  to  witness  two  ships, 
while  tossed  on  the  surges  of  the  ocean,  and  beyond  speak- 
ing distance,  conversing  with  each  other  by  means  of 
signals. 

Every  nation  has  its  private  signals.  In  war  and  in 
peace,  the  signal  book  is  held  sacred,  and  the  signals  are 
supposed  to  be  known  only  to  the  commander  of  each 
vessel.  In  case  of  war,  if  a  national  vessel  happen  to  be 
captured,  the  signal  book  is  at  once  thrown  overboard, 
before  the  victor  can  gain  possession  of  it.  Otherwise  he 
might  decoy  into  his  power,  by  a  knowledge  of  these 
private  signs,  other  ships  of  the  nation  with  which  he  is 
at  war. 

The  system  of  signals  has  never  yet  been  brought  to 
any  great  perfection,  in  practice,  by  any  maritime  power. 
Since  the  introduction  of  numbers  into  telegraphic  lan- 
guage, however,  the  communication  by  signals  has  been 
extended  and  facilitated  ;  and  it  has  created  a  language 
that  may  be  made  use  of  as  a  more  general  means  of 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  13 

communication  between  ships  at  sea,  and  from  ships  with 
the  shore. 

Ten  separate  flags,  with  different  devices  in  figure  and 
colors,  are  used,  as.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  0  ;  the 
number  of  each  being  known  by  its  device.  The  flags  are 
read  from  the  top  downwards.  Thus,  if  it  is  desired  to 
make  the  number  15  to  a  distant  ship,  which  however  is 
sufficiently  near  to  make  out,  with  her  glass,  the  emblems 
by  which  the  numbers  of  the  signal  are  known,  the  two 
flags  which  stand  for  No.  1  and  No.  5  are  set,  at  the  gaff 
or  other  part  of  the  ship,  where  the  signal  can  most  readi- 
ly be  made  out  by  the  distant  vessel.  If  the  No.  152  is 
to  be  communicated,  the  flag  representing  No.  2  will  be 
set  beneath  the  two  flags  already  mentioned. 

The  signal  book  contains  numbers  from  one  to  one 
thousand,  more  or  less,  and  opposite  each  number  is  some 
nautical  phrase,  sentence,  name  of  place,  latitude,  longi- 
tude, or  other  expressions,  and  sufficiently  numerous  and 
varied  for  most  purposes.  Therefore,  wThen  the  number 
is  made  out  by  the  distant  vessel,  a  reference  to  the  signal 
book  will  give  the  expression  opposite  to  it,  which  it  is  the 
wish  of  one  party  to  communicate  to  the  other.  Suppose, 
then,  No.  15  of  the  signal  book  has  opposite  to  it  the  word 
"  yes  ;"  No.  16,  the  words  "if  wind  and  weather  permit ;" 
No.  17,  "  Sunday  ;"  No.  18,  "  2  o'clock  ;"  No.  19,  "  Will 
you  dine  with  us  ?"  With  these  numbers  we  may  illustrate 
the  subject  by  a  case  which  has  already  occurred  on  board 
our  ship.  The  Commodore,  desiring  to  invite  the  Com- 
mander of  the  John  Adams  to  take  dinner  with  him,  di- 
rects the  flag-officer  to  have  the  signal  No.  19  made, 
which  is  done  by  setting  the  two  flags  which  stand  for  the 
numbers  one  and  nine.  This  being  read  on  board  the 
Adams,  an  answering  pennant,  which  means,  "  We  have 
made  out  the  number,"  is  run  up  and  again  hauled  down. 
The  number  of  the  first  signal  having  been  read,  the  second 
or  No.  18,  in  like  manner  with  the  first,  is  made  by  the 
two  flags  representing  one  and  eight.  This  answered,  as 
being  understood  on  board  the  other  vessel,  No.  17  is 
made  by  the  flags  No.  1  and  No.  7.  No  further  signals 
following  from  the  Columbia,  the  Commander  of  the  Adams, 
by  referring  to  the  signal  book,  finds  it  to  read, 

2 


14  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  No.  19.  Will  you  dine  with  us  ?" 

"  No.  18.  Sunday." 

"No.  17.  2  o'clock." 

The  Commander  of  the  Adams,  accepting  the  invitation", 
replies  by  making  the  numbers  16  and  15,  which  will 
read,  "  Yes,  if  wind  and  weather  permit." 

Signals,  in  the  night-time,  are  often  made  by  lights  of 
different  colors,  and  by  adjusting  them  in  different  posi- 
tions, at  various  angles  ;  by  rockets  and  by  fires. 

The  signal  book  of  the  navy  has  attached  to  it  a  heavy 
piece  of  lead,  which  would  immediately  sink  it  if  thrown 
overboard. 

I  quote,  at  random,  the  following  numbers  from  the 
"  American  Signal  Book,"  which  is  generally  used  in  the 
American  merchant  service : 

•*  219.  What  are  you  about  ?" 

"313.  A  mutiny  onboard." 

"716.  If  we  have  not  immediate  assistance." 

"  962.  All's  lost." 

"718.  We  will  send  assistance." 

"  188.  Heave  all  aback." 

"  332.  Mutiny  is  quelled." 

"  40.  All's  well." 

"327.  Adieu." 

"  I  tell  you  what,"  says  Lieutenant  W.  (the  subject  of 
shooting  the  aborigines  of  our  land  being  under  discussion,) 
if  you  would  kill  an  Indian,  you  must  proceed  somewhat 
after  the  manner  of  cooking  a  dolphin."  "  How  is  that  ?" 
"  Why,  catch  him  first." 

It  is  not  unusual  for  the  young  gentlemen  of  the  ship 
to  avail  themselves  of  any  innocent  occasion  for  creating 
a  smile  at  the  expense  of  one  of  their  messmates.  As  we 
left  the  Roads  without  the  usual  number  of  Lieutenants, 
it  was  presumed  that  some  of  the  passed  Midshipmen  would 
receive  acting  appointments.  By  consequence,  these  young 
gentlemen  were  on  tiptoe  expectation  for  the  announce- 
ment of  their  acceptable  good  fortune.  One  of  the  Lieuten- 
ants, a  young  gentleman  of  wit  and  worth,  caught  a  pen 
at  my  desk,  and  scribbled  an  acting  appointment  for  one 
of  these  expectants,  for  whom  there  was  no  doubt  but  that 
an  acting  appointment  had  been  made  out  by  the  Com- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  15 

modore,  who  yet,  for  the  present,  retained  the  paper. 
Having  finished  the  fictitious  appointment,  it  was  regularly 
enclosed  within  the  official  fawn-colored  envelope,  and 
conveyed  to  the  Master  (who  is  a  passed  Midshipman) 
by  the  orderly,  who  generally  bears  the  particularly  offi- 
cial messages  from  the  Commodore.  The  orderly  knock- 
ed at  the  door  of  the  Master,  who  was  in  his  room,  busily 
making  out  the  reckonings  of  the  day's  sailing.  "  Come 
in,  sir,"  echoed  a  voice  from  within,  while  the  Lieutenant 
and  some  others  were  standing  at  a  distance  without  to 
witness  the  effect.  The  Master's  door  was  opened.  The 
fawn-colored  envelope  acted  like  a  spell.  The  Master 
dropped  his  figuring  utensils,  and  hopped  into  "  the  coun- 
try" of  the  ward-room,  as  its  open  space  is  called,  holding 
up  his  fawn-colored  envelope  and  exclaiming  in  abundant 
exultation,  in  the  possession  of  an  acting  Lieutenancy, 
"  I  writes  no  more  of  these  Master's  figurations,  gentle- 
men," shaking  the  fawn-colored,  with  three  significant 
configurations  above  his  head,  and  at  the  same  time  open- 
ing the  seal,  read  as  follows : 

"  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia,  May  1st,  1838. 

"  SIR, — You  are  hereby  appointed  acting  Jemmy  Ducks  of  this  ship  until 
it  shall  please  the  Hon.  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  confirm  the  appoint- 
ment. 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"'CORINTHIAN  TOM,' 

"  Commander  in  chief  of  all  the  U.  S.  poultry  in  the  China  sea§. 
"  To &c.  <fec." 

The  joke  went  off  with  a  round  peal  of  laughter  from 
Corinthian  Tom ;  and  the  same  evening  the  acceptable 
appointments  were  distributed  to  the  young  gentlemen,  so 
worthily  deserving  them,  in  view  of  the  arduous  duties 
which  lay  before  them  on  a  long  and  critical  voyage. 

"  What  olden  poet,"  it  was  asked  at  the  mess-table  to- 
day, while  an  antique  chicken  was  under  both  discussion 
and  dissection,  "does  one  think  of  when  masticating  the 
drumstick  of  a  tough  one  ?"  "  I  have  it,"  said  another,  as  he 
gave  the  experimental  answer,  with  a  delicate  morsel  of 
the  antique  gentleman  between  his  teeth.  "Chauser," 
was  the  reply,  as  the  chewer  took  breath,  to  save  him 
from  premature  exhaustion. 


16  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

If  these  are  trifles,  they  yet  show  that  trifles  are  not 
always  excluded  from  shipboard,  any  more  than  from  the 
society  of  triflers  on  land.  And  they  further  show  that 
men,  thrown  together  within  the  narrow  compass  of  a 
ward-room,  with  dispositions  and  tastes  perhaps  alike  in 
no  two  instances,  can  yet  make  themselves  agreeable  and 
become  true  and  lasting  friends. 

The  weather  being  fair  on  Sunday,  we  had  divine  ser- 
vice on  the  upper  deck.  Such  a  service  on  board  a  man- 
of-war  is  characteristic  and  interesting. 

At  half-past  ten  o'clock,  the  decks  of  the  ship  having 
been  cleared,  as  usual,  and  the  men  having  been  inspected 
at  their  quarters,  they  are  piped,  on  Sunday  morning,  in 
their  best  dresses,  to  muster. 

A  frigate's  company,  in  all,  generally  consists  of  five 
hundred  persons.  At  the  call  to  muster,  the  men  take  their 
position  on  the  quarter-deck.  In  warm  weather,  they  are 
generally  dressed  in  white  duck  trousers,  white  shirts,  with 
blue  collars  and  bosoms.  The  broad  blue  collar  is  turned 
down,  with  a  star  upon  each  corner,  and  the  blue  bosom 
exposes  three  stripes  of  narrow  white  tape,  edging  the 
inserted  blue.  A  black  silk  neck-cloth,  beneath  the  over- 
turned collar,  is  knotted  on  the  bosom,  or  tied  with  a  piece 
of  white  tape,  leaving  the  neck  open  and  exposed.  A 
blue  jacket,  unbuttoned,  polished  shoes,  with  tarpaulin  hat, 
or  a  lighter  straw  one  in  warm  weather,  complete  the 
uniform  and  characteristic  dress  of  an  American  seaman. 
The  whole  appearance  of  the  sailors  on  this  day  is  ex- 
pected to  be  such  as  to  pass  the  particular  examination  by 
the  officers — an  inspection  which  they  invariably  go  through 
on  this  day,  alter  the  religious  services  are  over — their 
names  being  called,  one  by  one,  as  they  pass  from  their 
positions  in  review  directly  before  the  officers,  who  still 
retain  their  places  until  the  muster-roll  is  finished.  Should 
the  shoes  of  any  one  of  the  men  be  found  unpolished,  or 
any  portion  of  the  dress  be  characteristic  of  negligence, 
the  man  is  directed  to  stop  at  the  mainmast.  It  is  known 
that  such  an  offence  incurs  a  penalty  of  half  a  dozen  lashes 
at  the  gangway,  and  most  frequently  it  is  inflicted.  This 
tends  to  render  the  appearance  of  the  whole  crew  strik- 
ingly neat  on  the  Sabbath,  in  their  uniform  sailor-dresses. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


17 


AMERICAN    TAR. 


18  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

And  this  requisite,  as  to  particularity  in  dress, extends  to  the 
officers,  who  are  expected  to  appear  in  their  uniform,  and 
with  as  great  a  care  to  neatness  as  is  required  of  the  men. 

The  sailors  thus  placed  upon  the  quarter-deck,  the  ma- 
rines, about  sixty  in  number,  are  next  drawn  up,  in  dou- 
ble file,  in  full  dress,  on  the  larboard  side  of  the  ship,  with 
the  right  of  the  division  resting  near  the  sailors  on  the 
quarter-deck,  and  stand,  with  their  polished  guns,  at  rest. 

On  the  starboard  side,  opposite  the  marines,  is  the  po- 
sition of  the  officers  of  the  ship  ;  and  between  them,  with 
the  officers  on  his  left,  and  the  marines  on  his  right,  and 
the  sailors  directly  in  front,  on  the  quarter-deck,  the  Chap- 
lain takes  his  position  at  the  capstan,  both  as  his  desk  and 
pulpit.  The  capstan  in  itself  is  an  object  of  ornament 
on  board  a  frigate,  standing  abaft  the  mainmast,  and  is 
generally  inlaid  with  different  devices  of  stars  and  other 
figures  of  brass,  and  always  kept  brightly  polished.  Over 
the  top  of  the  capstan,  which  is  some  four  feet  in  diame- 
ter, a  flag  is  thrown,  in  preparation  for  the  expected  ser- 
vice, and  the  platform  on  which  the  chaplain  stands  is  al- 
so covered  with  bunting.  When  the  chaplain  is  in  his 
position,  the  commanding  officer  stands  near  his  left,  with 
the  other  officers  but  a  small  distance  still  further  at  the 
left  of  the  chief  officer. 

The  deck  is  generally  in  this  attitude  when  the  Chap- 
lain ascends  the  hatchway  from  his  room,  and  takes  his 
position  at  the  capstan.  The  Commodore  taking  a  book 
from  the  number,  which  are  upon  the  capstan  and  before 
the  Chaplain  the  others  are  distributed  among  the  officers  ; 
when  the  Chaplain  begins  the  religious  services  according 
to  the  ritual  of  the  Episcopal  church. 

Surely  no  one  can,  for  the  first  time,  contemplate  such 
a  scene  on  the  deck  of  a  man-of-war,  without  interest — 
nearly  five  hundred  souls,  their  persons  attired  in  their 
neatest  dresses,  often  deemed  a  rough  people,  but  now 
exhibiting  a  beautiful  aspect  of  propriety  and  neatness, 
and  profoundest  stillness,  gathered  for  solemn  worship  on 
the  decks  of  a  majestic  frigate,  bounding  yet  fleetly  on 
her  way  of  ocean,  yet,  as  if  conscious  of  the  solemn  hour 
and  the  solemn  scene  upon  her  deck,  scarcely  once  ca- 
reening or  pitching  so  perceptibly  as  to  inconvenience 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


19 


the  worshippers.  Around  spreads  the  far  blue  deep,  and 
above  the  lair  blue  sky ;  and  God  is  seen  in  the  majesty 
and  the  beauty  of  both.  The  Chaplain  commences  the 
profound  worship  of  the  Eternal — it  is  continued — it  ends. 

The  service  on  these  occasions  is  generally  and  pro- 
perly abbreviated,  and  the  sermon,  it  is  expected,  will  be 
comparatively  brief,  as  the  officers  and  crew  are  standing 
throughout  the  .service,  uncovered,  but  beneath  a  spread 
awning,  shading  the  entire  deck  when  the  weather  is  warm. 

Our  services  to-day,  with  little  variations  to  meet  the 
circumstances  of  the  ship,  now  but  eight  days  at  sea,  were 
conducted  after  the  manner  described. 

MARINE  HYMN. 

O  God,  the  suns  were  made  by  thee, 
And  stars  that  arch  the  deep  blue  sea ; 
We  course  the  waves  beneath  their  light, 
And  trace  thy  hand  by  day  and  night. 

We  hear  the  roar  of  ocean-surge, 
And  know,  for  thee,  the  gale  will  urge ; 
And  on  the  sea  when  rests  the  calm, 
The  stilly  breeze  sleeps  in  thy  palm. 

And  when  our  ships  ride  on  the  deep, 
And  waters  only  round  us  sweep, 
The  heart  then  feels  thy  throne  is  high, 
And  on  the  sailor  rests  thine  eye. 

Then  hear  our  worship,  O  our  God, 

Who  gemmed  the  heavens  and  seas  laid  broad ; 

Before  thee  now  our  hearts  we  lay, 

And  in  our  sea-horne  temple,  pray. 

The  day  was  fine.  The  John  Adams  was  seen  on  our 
larboard  quarter,  nearly  within  the  sound  of  the  Chap- 
lain's voice.  The  sermon  was  delivered  without  inter- 
ruption, save  now  and  then  a  single  flap  of  the  wing  of 
a  sail  was  heard,  and  once,  a  suppressed  order  from  the 
officer  of  the  deck  to  the  captain  of  the  mizen-top. 

Captain  Wyman,  of  the  John  Adams,  was  invited  on 
board  the  Columbia,  the  succeeding  day,  to  dine,  together 
with  the  Commodore,  with  the  ward-room  mess. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  a  landsman,  to  see  one  of 
the  boats  of  a  man-of-war,  with  all  the  confidence  of 


20  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

security,  passing  from  one  ship  to  another,  in  mid  ocean. 
Our  ships,  however,  in  this  instance,  are  within  a  mile 
of  each  other,  and  the  invitation  to  the  commander  of  the 
Adams,  was  given  by  signal.  Nor  less  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise, perhaps,  would  it  appear  to  some  of  our  friends, 
could  they  peep  into  our  spacious  ward-room,  and  mark 
the  degree  of  neatness  and  taste  with  which  a  table  is 
arranged  for  a  dinner-patry,  on  board  our  frigate.  The 
manner  of  serving  up  a  dinner  in  the  ward-room,  would 
in  no  way  do  discredit  to  a  dining-hall  on  shore.  The 
polished  covers,  the  pure  French  china,  the  silver  forks, 
the  napkins  arid  the  damask  table-cloths,  covering  a  well- 
polished  mahogany  table,  all  show  no  inconsiderable  de- 
gree of  elegance  ;  and  under  the  management  of  Dr.  H., 
our  tasteful  caterer,  presented,  on  this  occasion,  an  ap- 
pearance that  would  be  respectable  in  any  private  par- 
lor. And  then  the  different  dishes,  got  up  by  French 
cooks,  (heaven  bless  the  French  genius,  when  variety  is 
desired,)  are  quite  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  taste  as  well  as 
the  appetite.  And  fruits  are  always  kept  by  the  mess, 
and  pastries  are  made  per  order  of  the  caterer.  In 
truth,  one  would  hardly  remember  that  he  was  not  in  the 
private  dining-hall  of  a  friend,  if  one  happened  to  have  his 
friends  around  him,  the  motion  of  the  frigate  not  being 
sufficient  to  create  any  inconvenience,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, so  far  as  the  present  occasion  was  concerned,  as  the 
tables  were  unlashed,  and  no  article  of  the  dishes  moved 
from  their  position,  otherwise  than  they  would  have  been 
from  the  table  of  an  unrocked  dwelling  of  one's  land-home. 

After  a  beautiful  sunset  last  evening,  May  14th,  the 
sun  clouded  in,  and  the  rain  descended,  at  times,  in  tor- 
rents. It  was  so  thick,  that  nothing  could  be  seen  five 
lengths  of  the  frigate,  ahead  of  her.  The  weather,  as 
usual  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  has  been  more  or  less  rainy, 
but  more  favorable  than  is  generally  found  to  attend  a 
passage  across  it. 

At  a  half-hour  by  sun,  a  signal  was  made  to  the  John 
Adams,  for  tacking  ship.  The  Columbia  changed  her 
course  gracefully,  as  the  Adams  still  stood  on  her  way, 
apparently  directly  by  us,  lining  her  beautiful  form  in 
distinct  relief  on  the  glorious  sky,  then  illumined  by  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  21 

golden  sunset  behind  her.  But  soon,  when  on  our  lar- 
board quarter,  she  came  up  into  the  wind,  and  tacked 
with  grace ;  and  the  two  coursers  together,  stood  again 
on  their  equal  and  parallel  track.  We  were  still  to- 
gether during  the  middle-watch.  But,  this  morning,  the 
Adams  is  not  to  be  seen.  She  can  be  descried  nowhere 
upon  the  ocean,  and  probably  will  take  good  care  not  to 
get  into  our  company  again,  if  she  can  avoid  it,  until  we 
shall  reach  Madeira.  It  is  generally  deemed  a  pardonable 
offence,  for  one  vessel  sailing  in  company  with  another, 
and  having  a  common  rendezvous,  to  make  her  escape, 
if  a  plausible  excuse  can  be  rendered  to  the  flag-ship. 

The  mists  and  squalls  of  last  night,  were  quite  too 
good  an  opportunity  for  the  Adams  not  to  get  out  of 
sight.  And  doubtless  they  are  in  high  glee  this  morning, 
at  their  good  fortune,  in  being  at  liberty  to  trace  their 
own  way,  without  following  the  motions,  in  making  and 
shortening  sail,  in  mimic  suit  of  the  Columbia,  to  whose 
movements  she  has  to  accommodate  herself.  "  By  heav- 
ens," says  an  interesting  small  gentleman,  on  board  the 
Adams,  as  he  takes  his  seat  at  the  mess-table  this  morn- 
ing, "  I  managed  it,  gentlemen,  last  night,  any  how, 
ay  ?"  with  a  small  flourish  or  two  of  his  finger,  as  he 
edges  a  little  nearer  the  table,  to  commence  a  very  short 
description  of  the  movement  and  other  things. 

The  John  Adams  had  orders  to  stand  for  Madeira,  if 
we  parted  company ;  and  having  watered  and  taken  in 
all  necessary  supplies,  to  stand  on  her  way  again,  for 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  unless  the  Columbia  should  be  at  Funchal, 
the  capital  of  the  island  of  Madeira,  at  the  time  of  her 
reaching  there. 

As  I  sought  the  deck,  to-night,  I  saluted  the  officer  of 
the  watch,  by  touching  my  hat,  as  the  usual  ceremony 
of  respect  to  the  deck-officer,  adding, 

"  O  Pilot,  'tis  a  fearful  night, 

There's  danger  on  the  deep ; 
I'll  come  and  pace  the  deck  with  thee, 
I  do  not  dare  to  sleep." 

"  Come,"  said  the  Lieutenant,  "  at  the  middle-watch, 
that  is  the  hour  we  have  for  gentle  memories." 


22  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

It  was  a  lovely  night,  and  not  such  as  the  poetry  quot- 
ed would  lead  one  to  suppose,  but  such  as  might  awaken 
poetry  in  sentiment,  in  one  who  yet  might  never  have 
made  rhymes. 

"  And  then,"  I  said,  "  it  is  not  with  you,  as  the  sailors 
say,  that  salt  water  washes  away  the  recollections  of 
home  r 

"  No,"  continued  the  officer  of  the  deck.  "  Were  I  a 
young  lady  with  a  lover,  I  would  command  him  to  go  to 
sea.  I  am  sure  his  affections  would  be  deepened  in  the 
long  and  deep  memories  which  awake  while  he  paces 
the  deck  in  the  hours  of  the  middle-watch." 

"  And  how  is  it  with  you,  Doctor  ?"  I  asked,  as  the 
fleet  surgeon  joined  our  promenade.  "Do  you  find  that 
the  briny  mist  washes  away  your  soft  musings  of  home, 
and  wife,  and  the  little  ones  ?" 

"Ah,  sir,"  returned  the  surgeon,  "  I  find  it  like  a  mor- 
daunt  of  the  chemist  and  the  dyer,  one  ingredient  of 
which  is  salt,  and  which  they  use  to  fix  indelibly  their 
colors.  And  yet  1  shut  my  eyes  as  much  as  possible  to 
the  visions  which  come  up  before  me,  in  their  every  hue 
of  love  and  home-associations." 

"For  myself,"  I  added,  "there  was  sufficient  of  the 
nausea  about  me,  for  four  or  live  days,  to  make  me  think 
only  of  my  uninteresting  self:  but  I  now  cast  my  look 
over  the  waste  «»f  waters  between  me  and  those  I  love, 
and  feast  sadly  but  happily  on  the  memories  which  winds 
and  waves  cannot  bear  from  me." 

The  watches  of  the  ship  are  divided  into  eight,  each 
Lieutenant,  in  turn,  keeping  the  deck  during  one  watch. 
He  is  called,  for  the  time  being,  the  officer  of  the  deck; 
and  through  him,  all  orders  are  issued,  and  to  him  the 
care  of  the  sailing  «»f  the  ship  is  committed.  The  watches 
at  night  are  from  H  till  \'2.  called  the  first  watch  ;  from  12 
till  4,  called  the  mid-watch  :  from  4  till  8,  called  the  morn- 
ing watch.  During  these  hours,  if  the  wind  is  fair,  the 
Lieutenant  has  much  time  for  thinking,  as  may  be  the 
train  of  his  feelings,  in  happy  or  in  sorrowful  musings. 
And  I  can  imagine  how  often  the,  memories  of  home, 
come  up  to  the  mind  of  the  young  Lieutenant,  as  he  paces 
the  deck,  with  the  trumpet  in  his  hand,  alone ;  occasion- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  23 

ally  casting  up  his  eye  to  mark  the  trim  of  the  sails,  and 
issues,  at  one  moment,  an  order  to  give  a  pull  upon  a  brace, 
which  serves  to  break  in  upon  the  train  of  his  deepening 
memories.  But  he  soon  again  renews  his  monotonous 
step,  and  the  gentle  recollections  come  over  him,  which 
transport  him  to  those  he  loves,  while  he  almost  thinks 
himself  in  their  embraces,  in  happy  commune,  until  a  sud- 
den sigh  comes  from  some  sudden  consciousness  that  it  is 
but  a  dream  ;  and  he  wakes  to  the  reality,  that  he  is  yet 
stemming  on  his  long  course,  still  away  and  away  from 
the  land  of  his  home,  the  young  companion  of  his  bosom, 
and  friends  less  near  than  she,  but  still  dear  in  his  delight- 
ful and  welcome  loves. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  a  barque  from  Havre, 
bound  to  Baltimore,  came  down  upon  us,  with  most  of  her 
sails  set,  as  we  bore  a  little  out  of  our  course  to  meet  her, 
that  we  might  forward  letters  to  our  friends  in  the  United 
States.  A  letter  bag  was  soon  prepared,  and  a  boat  low- 
ered. Lieut.  Turner  and  Mid.  Sincler  boarded  the  barque, 
as  she  lay  off  from  us,  with  her  sails  aback,  exhibiting  a 
fine  model  of  an  American  ship. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sight  as  the  two  ships  lay  aback,  and 
a  moment  lingered  on  their  separate  courses,  while  the 
frigate's  boat  bounded  on  the  surge,  to  bear  our  tokens 
of  remembrances  to  friends  and  to  communicate  with  a 
ship  from  a  foreign  land. 

As  soon  as  our  boat  had  left  the  barque,  on  her  return 
to  the  frigate,  a  fog  came  up  suddenly  over  the  ocean, 
with  a  change  of  the  wind  to  the  west.  The  barque  filled 
away,  and  in  a  few  moments  was  lost  in  the  mists  that 
swept  over  the  sea ;  and  had  our  boat  been  delayed  fif- 
teen minutes  longer,  she  might  have  been  shut  in  by  the 
fog ;  while,  however,  in  this  instance,  there  would  have 
been  no  danger,  as  she  was  within  the  hearing  of  our 
ship's  bell.  The  scene  was  an  interesting  exhibition,  re- 
calling to  the  mind  occurrences  which  often  take  place  at 
sea  when  a  boat  has  been  despatched  from  the  ship.  The 
instances  are  many  of  a  fog  unexpectedly  overtaking  a 
boat,  when,  in  the  absence  of  a  compass,  the  course  be- 
comes unknown.  In  such  a  case,  the  ship,  having  the 
bearing  of  the  point  from  which  the  boat  is  expected, 


24  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

stands  for  her  accordingly,  and  in  most  cases,  by  the  dis- 
charge of  guns  and  the  sounding  of  the  bell,  the  boat  is 
recovered. 

To-night,  now  after  ten  o'clock,  our  frigate  presents  a 
magnificent  exhibition,  while  cutting  her  way  of  light 
through  the  dark  ocean.  Clouds  hang  thick  above  us, 
veiling  star  and  moon  from  the  sight;  and  the  fresh 
breeze  drives  our  gallant  vessel  twelve  knots  the  hour  on 
her  course.  She  leaves  in  her  wake  a  stream  of  light, 
which  blazes  forth  in  its  mellow  and  spreading  trail,  like 
the  tail  of  a  comet  lined  on  the  blue  heavens  ;  and  before 
her  the  phosphorescent  billow  curves  around  her.  bow  a 
mighty  crest  of  ever  rolling  and  flashing  light.  Beyond 
us,  the  illumined  peaks  of  the  waves,  as  they  break,  sail 
down  in  their  silver  sheets,  to  mingle  their  sheen  of  phos- 
phorescence in  the  flood  of  glory,  which  the  ship  carries 
before  her.  How  grand  !  how  beautiful !  I  went  far  out 
upon  the  bowsprit  to  get  a  fairer  view  of  her  stem,  buried, 
as  it  is,  in  its  halo  of  glory,  and  throwing  up  its  cascades 
of  corruscating  light.  What  is  she  like  as  she  careers  on 
her  way,  a  giant  in  her  prowess,  and  yet,  in  her  graceful 
make,  a  fit  personification  of  the  genius  of  America? 
And  she  is  the  genius  of  our  own,  our  native  land.  Her 
name,  too,  is  Columbia,  and  she  is  driving  onward,  to 
bear  proud  credentials  of  her  origin  and  of  the  glory  of 
the  land  she  owns,  to  far  and  wilder  nations,  and  older 
but  not  prouder  dominions  and  people  than  the  land  from 
which  she  sails.  God  speed  thee,  good  ship.  Thou  art 
freighted  with  some  choice  spirits,  and  with  honorable 
designs.  Thy  way,  to-night,  is  one  of  light  and  glory. 
May  it  be  brightly  ominous  of  thy  good  reception  ;  and 
emblem  forth  thine  honorable  offices  and  untarnished 
bearing,  while  on  thy  mission  of  courtesy  and  reciproca- 
ted good  will  of  the  younger  West  to  the  olden  East. 

The  Mahonese,  Mr.  C.,  has  occasionally  favored  us 
with  music,  playing  on  the  guitar,  and  accompanied  to- 
night by  one  of  the  ward-room  officers,  on  the  flute.  Our 
First  Lieutenant  sang  a  sweet  little  air,  with  taste  and 
feeling.  How  it  comes  over  the  soul,  that  sweet  strain 
of  symphony  !  Music,  I  love  thee  ever  !  Thou  art  to 
me  an  inspirer — a  soother — and  yet  thou  sometimes 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  25 

breakest  my  heart,  and  I  weep  !  Oh,  are  they  not  happy 
thoughts  which  thou  awakest,  as  thou  bearest  me  over 
the  vast  waters  to  those  I  love — as  I  seem  anew  to  hear 
the  dulcet  strains,  which  the  voices  of  loved  ones  have 
poured  upon  my  ear  in  days  that  are  gone  !  I  find  my- 
self more  and  more  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  sweet 
harmonies.  And  yet,  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  analyze 
the  spell  of  enchantment  which  comes  over  me.  But  it 
intoxicates  like  the  papaver  of  the  opium-eater.  Still  I 
wish  to  pour  out  these  feelings  in  lonely  commune  with 
myself.  They  are  all  too  hallowed  emotions  for  the 
sympathy  of  others.  Sweet  music,  I  will  love  thee  ever, 
for  thy  power  is  always  kind.  Thou  takest  me  anew 
along  the  woodland  acclivities  and  deep  ravines,  and 
shaded  and  meadow-plains  of  my  own  grounds.  Thou 
recallest  the  moon-lit  nights,  when  I  have  paced  the  ave- 
nues with  a  sister  leaning  on  my  arm,  and  we  have  paused 
and  gazed  together  on  the  bright  bosom  of  the  river, 
sleeping  in  its  flood  of  moonbeams.  And  thou  tellest  me 
when  together  we  have  sat  on  the  embowered  bench, 
and  not  a  bird  was  awake,  and  moist  eve  had  perfumed 
the  balmy  air,  and  for  me  the  guitar  was  struck — was 
struck  for  me — and  we  loved  more  kindly,  and  our  hearts 
were  more  blessed.  And  when,  further  off,  sweet  music 
hath  awakened,  I  have  leaned  upon  my  elbow,  and  gazed 
from  the  lattice  of  my  country  home,  and  contemplated 
the  deep  shade  beneath  the  fruit-trees  and  the  forest  clus- 
ters, and  read  the  bright  stars  above  when  seen  through  the 
shady  vistas,  and  when  the  romance  of  nature  was  weav- 
ing her  mystic  and  fairy  and  enchanted  visions  of  days 
yet  to  come,  when  all  would  be  well — when  all  would  be 
happy — when  all  would  be  bliss.  Ah  !  those  days  I  hoped 
for,  where  are  ye  ?  But  it  was  happiness  thus  to  muse — 
thus  to  despond — thus  to  hope — thus,  in  imagination,  to 
realize  in  fancied  possession,  more  than  the  growing  re- 
ality. Music,  I  will  love  thee  ever ! 

The  monotony  of  ship-board  would  be  fatiguing,  were 
there  not  various  things  at  sea  to  relieve  the  prevailing 
sameness.  The  sunset  scenes  are  often  magnificent,  and 
various  as  are  the  courses  of  the  evening  clouds,  and  the 
latitude  and  longitude  through  which  we  sail.  The  sunset 

3 


26  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

scene  to-night,  in  longitude  32°  48'  W.,  would  be  indescrib- 
able, if  the  description  were  expected  to  meet  the  reality. 
But  there  is  such  a  thing  as  employing  general  terms  to 
awaken  the  beautiful  in  emotion,  which,  if  sufficiently  dis- 
tinct in  the  picture  they  define,  will  convey  to  another's 
bosom  some  of  the  delightful  emotions  one's  self  has  felt, 
when  gazing  at  an  object  addressed  to  our  perceptions,  of 
the  glorious,  the  beautiful,  and  the  sublime.  Such  was  the 
sunset  scene  of  this  evening.  Its  beauty  consisted  in  the 
different  layers  of  clouds,  horizontally  placed  one  above 
the  other,  some  extending  further,  some  not  so  far — broken 
here  and  united  there — while  intervening  strata  of  the 
deeper  back-ground  were  seen  to  divide  these  several 
layers,  and  varying  in  its  hue,  from  the  palest  light  to  the 
faintest  blue  ;  and  then  to  the  lightest,  brightest,  and  deep- 
est green,  so  as  to  present  the  back  expanse,  in  its  various 
changes,  now  like  an  ocean  of  emerald-green  water,  un- 
rippled,  and  throwing  back  its  flood  of  mellowed  and  green 
light,  while  the  island-clouds,  with  their  edges  fringed  with 
light,  became  less  bright  and  more  dark  in  their  colors 
as  the  eye  receded  from  their  scalloped  and  illumined 
edges  to  their  centres.  And  then,  far  up  and  far  off,  as 
the  sun  just  now  entered  a  broken  bank  of  clouds,  were 
seen  other  piles  of  the  airy  voyagers  in  their  various  hues 
of  light,  and  dark,  and  dun,  yet  everywhere  in  their  velvet 
mellowness,  soft  as  a 

"  Sunbeam  gone  astray," 

or, 
"Plume  in  crest  of  knight ;" 

or, 
"  Cloud  in  sombre  gray," 

seen 
"  Far  arid  low  at  night." 

But  when  you  combined  the  whole  picture — the  golden 
cloud  islands  in  the  emerald-green  sea — and  the  strag- 
gling islands,  which  shone  in  their  more  solitary  and  bril- 
liant and  lighter  beauty,  higher  up  and  further  off,  it  was 
then,  indeed,  you  felt  the  calm  emotion  of  the  beautiful 
gather  through  all  your  bosom,  as  you  gazed  in  happy  and 
gentle  and  lonely  musing.  But  scarcely  an  interval  had 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  27 

passed,  when  all  this  beautiful  was  illumined  with  intense- 
ly more  brilliant  hues,  as  the  full  orb  fell  quite  beneath 
the  horizon  ;  and  the  soft  and  mellow  scene  glowed  in  the 
vivid  colors  of  new  floods  of  glory,  thrown  on  this  eme- 
rald-green ocean  of  a  thousand  golden  isles.  You  gazed 
on  it  a  happy  and  entranced  beholder.  The  beautiful  now 
had  changed  to  the  sublime.  And  as  you  let  your  thoughts 
lead  on  in  their  involuntary  train  of  association,  you  mused 
with  admiration  and  worship,  as  you  thought  in  silence  on 
the  attributes  of  the  Eternal,  veiled  in  his  pavilion  of  glory. 

A  moment  since,  one  bell,  first  watch,  a  man  fell  from 
the  main-top-gallant  yard.  He  was  heard  to  cry,  "  O  my 
God !"  as  he  passed  the  maintop  ;  and  the  next  moment 
he  struck,  head  foremost,  upon  the  first  cutter,  stowed 
amidships  alongside  the  lanch,  and  bounded  into  the  gang- 
way. The  surgeon  was  called,  and  when  he  reached  the 
spot  the  poor  tar  had  ceased  to  breathe.  His  skull  was 
fractured,  and  in  a  moment,  without  having  spoken,  after 
striking  the  deck,  he  passed  from  full  strength  and  active 
life  to  the  motionless  corpse  and  the  solemn  stillness  of 
death. 

The  dangers  and  the  toils  of  seamen  are  great  and  severe, 
and  thanks  seldom  greet  them.  I  was  on  deck  a  few 
moments  after  this  melancholy  incident  had  occurred.  It 
was  dark,  and  the  men  were  still  furling  sails.  I  stood  by 
the  after  hatchway,  and  heard  more  than  one  sigh  from 
those  rough  men  as  they  passed  me  while  still  pulling  upon 
the  halliards.  A  squall  appeared  to  be  gathering  in  the 
west,  and  the  men  were  furling  the  top-gallant-sails  at  the 
time  this  unfortunate  man  fell. 

After  quarters,  the  succeeding  morning,  "all  hands" 
were  piped  "  to  bury  the  dead."  The  sailor,  who  fell  last 
night  from  the  main-top-gallant  yard,  was  to  be  given  to 
the  deep.  He  had  been  laid  out,  as  usual  in  such  cases, 
by  his  messmates,  on  the  half-deck,  with  the  flag  of  his 
nation  thrown  over  him.  His  messmates  were  his 
watchers  during  the  night,  and  now,  at  the  hour  of  his 
burial,  they  bore  him  to  the  leeward  gangway  of  the 
frigate. 

The  lanch  and  the  first  cutter,  two  large  boats  of  the 
ship,  upon  one  of  which  he  had  first  struck,  are  stowed 


28  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

amidships.  Within  these  the  clothes-bags  of  the  crew 
are  generally  piled,  rising  high  above  the  gunwale  of  the 
boats,  and  forming  an  elevation  in  the  central  part  of  the 
ship.  Upon  these  a  large  number  of  the  crew  had  now 
placed  themselves,  to  witness  the  ceremony,  new  to  many 
of  them,  while  others  were  standing  upon  the  deck  adja- 
cent to  the  gangway,  from  which  the  relics  of  the  depart- 
ed tar  were  to  be  given  to  the  deep.  The  officers  stood 
nearer  the  quarter-deck.  In  full  view  of  these,  nearly  five 
hundred  gazers,  rested  the  plank  upon  the  upper  step  of  the 

fangway,  on  which  the  unconscious  sleeper,  sewed  in  his 
ammock,  with  thirty- two  pound  shots  at  his  feet,  was 
reposing,  with  the  stars  and  stripes  wreathing  his  rough 
bier,  as  his  honorable  pall.  Six  of  his  messmates,  as  his 
bearers,  held  the  plank  in  its  horizontal  position,  ready  to 
launch  their  brother  of  the  ocean  into  the  blue  sea.  And 
nearest  them,  stood  the  Commodore.  The  chaplain  ad- 
vanced to  his  side,  commencing  the  services,  as  all,  uncov- 
ered and  with  the  silence  of  the  dead,  listened  to  the  affect- 
ing ritual :  "  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  hath  but  a  short 
time  to  live,  and  is  full  of  misery.  He  cometh  up,  and  is 
cut  down  like  a  flower ;  he  fleeth  as  it  were  a  shadow, 
and  never  continueth  in  one  stay.  In  the  midst  of  life  we 
are  in  death.  Of  whom  may  we  seek  for  succour  but  of 
thee,  O  Lord,  who  for  our  sins  art  justly  displeased.  Yet, 
O  Lord  God  most  holy,  O  Lord  most  mighty,  O  holy  and 
most  merciful  Saviour,  deliver  us  not  into  the  bitter  pains 
of  eternal  death  !"  The  chaplain  advanced  yet  nearer  to 
the  sad  object  that  concentrated  the  solemn  interest  of  the 
moment,  and  continued  :  "  Forasmuch  as  it  has  pleased 
Almighty  God,  in  his  wise  providence,  to  take  out  of  this 
world  the  soul  of  our  deceased  brother,  we  therefore  com- 
mit his  body  to  the  deep  !"  And  in  the  breathless  stillness 
of  the  momentary  pause,  the  solemn  plunge  was  heard, 
which  spoke  louder  than  the  thunder  of  ordnance  to  the 
heart,  as  the  dead  man  was  sinking  to  deeper  and  yet 
deeper  fathoms,  until  the  eloquent  silence  was  again  broken 
by  the  chaplain's  voice,  as  he  added,  "  Earth  to  earth, 
ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust ;  looking  for  the  general  re- 
surrection in  the  last  day,  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  at  whose  second  coming 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  29 

in  glorious  majesty  to  judge  the  world,  the  earth  and  the 
sea  shall  give  up  their  dead,  and  the  corruptible  bodies  of 
those  who  sleep  in  him  shall  be  changed,  and  made  like 
unto  his  own  glorious  body  ;  according  to  the  mighty 
working  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unto 
himself." 

The  services  ended — the  crew  were  again  piped  to 
their  places — and  then  we  were  on  our  course  again,  to 
other  lands.  But  no  one  would  tell  the  story  of  him  whom 
we  had  now  left  to  drift  in  the  low  deep,  and  among  the 
far-down  currents  of  the  recordless  ocean.  O  !  it  is  a 
solemn  thing  to  die.  It  is  a  solemn  thing  to  "  lie  down  in 
the  dust,"  in  the  bosom  of  our  mother  earth ;  but  to  sink 
down,  and  down,  and  down  in  the  deeper,  darker,  desolate 
waters — this  thrills  even  the  bosom  of  the  way-worn  and 
brazen-featured  mariner,  as  his  thoughts  for  a  moment  are 
arrested,  and  he  follows  his  messmate  to  the  deeps  below ! 

But,  all  willingly  turn  from  the  scene,  and  again  we 
stand  on  our  way;  and  our  ship  seems  little  less  uncon- 
scious than  ourselves,  that  one  of  her  inmates  has  been 
left,  in  mid-ocean — his  name  to  be  no  more  spoken — his 
memory  to  be  unwept — his  story  for  ever  untold.  But  go 
on  thy  bounding  course,  thou  glorious  courser,  still  go  on ; 
and 

"  God  speed  thee,  good  ship,  on  thy  pathway  of  foam, 
The  sea  is  thy  country,  the  billow  thy  home." 

The  night  succeeding  the  burial,  young  H.  (a  boy  in 
years  but  a  man  in  mind)  was  very  singularly  affected. 
I  heard  him  scream  aloud.  His  hammock  being  near  the 
ward-room,  two  of  the  gentlemen  rushed  to  quiet  him. 
For  a  moment,  he  seemed  quite  beside  himself.  "  Don't 
you  know  me,"  asked  Mr.  M'C.  "  Yes,  sir,"  said  young 
H.  "  Yes,  sir — Mr.  Mahogany  ;"  and  then  screamed  yet 
louder,  "A  man  overboard — throw  me  a  rope — throw  me 
a  rope  !"  This  little  incident  is  not  unworthy  of  narrating, 
in  connection  with  the  burial  of  the  morning,  which  must 
have  left  such  an  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  youthful 
midshipman,  as  to  produce  the  singular  phenomenon  of 
his  dream.  The  lost  sailor  belonged  to  the  Commodore's 

3* 


80  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

gig  ;  and  young  H.  generally  went  with  the  boat,  and  thus 
particularly  knew  the  man,  as  one  of  his  boat's  picked 
crew. 

A  few  moments  after  we  had  buried  the  dead,  a  brig 
came  down  upon  our  starboard  bow.  We  spoke  her,  and 
learned  that  she  was  from  Palermo,  fifty  days  out,  and 
short  of  provisions.  She  lay  to  for  our  letter-bag,  and 
the  Captain  desired  us  to  send  him  a  barrel  of  beef,  and  a 
bag  of  bread,  if  we  could  spare  it.  It  was  sent,  to  the 
full  amount  the  Captain  desired,  and  his  receipt  taken,  as 
the  only  ackowledgment  of  the  favor. 

This  incident  shows  the  beautiful  utility  of  our  navy,  as 
the  strong  and  encouraging  arm  of  a  protecting  govern- 
ment. It  is  one  of  the  specific  duties  of  our  government 
ships,  to  relieve,  without  charge,  our  merchant  vessels. 
A  receipt,  mentioning  the  name  of  the  owners  of  the  vessel 
relieved,  is  taken,  to  prevent  imposition.  This  receipt  is 
forwarded  to  the  Department  at  Washington,  and  if  the 
vessels  of  the  same  owners  should  be  found  frequently 
to  have  sought  such  aid,  the  Government  would  charge 
them  for  the  stores  their  vessels  had  received,  otherwise 
not. 

Here,  then,  was  one  of  our  own  countrymen  on  the 
wide  ocean,  fifty  days  from  land,  with  a  three  weeks'  run 
yet  to  make,  and  perhaps,  by  accident  unforeseen,  twice 
that  time,  short  of  provisions  and  out  of  bread.  Our  noble 
frigate,  standing  on  her  course,  is  espied  by  the  distressed 
merchantman,  who  has  been  to  distant  lands  and  tempted 
perilous  seas  for  our  luxury  and  pleasure.  With  glowing 
feelings  he  sees  the  distant  object,  first  looming  to  his  view, 
her  royals  only  seen  in  the  horizon,  rising  higher  and 
higher,  until  top-gallant-sails  and  top-sails  and  courses  ap- 
pear ;  and  at  last,  a  noble  ship,  with  all  her  sails  set,  comes 
nearer  and  nearer ;  when,  at  last,  she  is  made  out  to  be 
one  of  our  own  majestic  frigates,  powerful  to  defend, 
courteous  to  compliment,  generous  to  relieve.  The  mer- 
chantman gazes  with  renewed  pride  on  the  gallant  war- 
ship, and  feels  that  there  is  majesty,  might,  and  magna- 
nimity in  the  arm  that  protects  him  ;  and  with  still  greater 
love,  he  thinks  on  the  land  of  his  home. 

Such,  doubtless,  were  the  feelings  of  the  trader,  whom 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  31 

we  met  and  relieved.  He  was  unbounded  in  his  enthu- 
siasm, when  speaking  of  the  beauty  of  our  frigate,  as  he 
gazed  upon  her,  while  the  two  vessels  were  aback,  and 
for  a  moment  resting  on  their  different  ways,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  friendship  and  mercy.  The  Captain  was  but 
one  of  the  hardy  men  who  fill  the  seas  from  the  east,  but 
he  could  see,  and  could  feel  the  beauties  and  sublimities 
of  the  scene,  and  go  on  his  way,  yet  more  and  more  lov- 
ing his  country  and  western  home. 

This  morning,  May  26th,  a  large  ship  loomed  up  in 
the  horizon,  at  the  northwest  of  us  ;  and  ere  long,  our  sus- 
picions were  confirmed.  It  proved  to  be  the  John  Adarns, 
our  consort,  who  parted  with  us  some  twro  weeks  since  ; 
and  now  she  has  come  down,  in  answer  to  our  signals, 
and  taken  her  former  position  on  our  larboard  quarter. 
The  incident  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  accuracy  of 
nautical  science.  Here  we  again  meet  on  the  ocean,  after 
having  been  lost  to  each  other  for  fourteen  days,  and  just 
at  the  moment  when  we  are  expecting  to  make  the  high 
lands  of  Madeira. 

At  the  present  hour  it  is  squally,  and  we  are  now 
shortening  sail,  and  probably  shall  not  venture  to  near 
the  land,  after  dark,  unless  we  make  it  before  sunset. 
The  sea,  at  this  moment,  is  high,  and  a  sail,  not  far  off, 
to  the  windward  of  us,  standing  on  an  opposite  course  to 
ourselves,  is  taking  in  her  royals  and  reefing.  We  are 
rolling  more  than  we  have  before  done  since  we  weighed 
our  anchors  in  Hampton  Roads,  twenty  days  since.  We 
hope  to  lie  at  moorings,  in  Funchal  Bay,  to-morrow ;  and 
then,  beautiful  Madeira  will  be  the  agreeable  object  of 
our  visit  and  observation,  after  a  passage  of  twenty-one 
days. 

Off  the  High  Peaks  of  Madeira,  May  26th,  P.  M. 

Never  did  the  call  to  quarters  roll  its  beat  more  sweetly 
through  our  ship,  than  at  this  soft  hour  of  evening.  I 
have  been  gazing  at  the  wedge-shaped  bluff  of  the  west 
end  of  the  island  of  Madeira,  now  wrapped  in  fog,  which, 
however,  at  this  moment,  is  lifting  sufficiently  for  the 
curved  outline  of  the  island  to  trace  itself  visibly  on  the 
misty  back-ground  of  the  horizon.  And  there  it  stands, 


32  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  island  of  Madeira,  famed  and  far-known,  in  mid- 
ocean,  raising  its  huge  and  sable  elevations,  at  this  hour, 
like  some  dark  monster  of  the  deep,  in  his  unconcern  and 
deep  repose  ;  with  its  far-up  and  shaded  sides  lost  in  the 
mists,  which  now  wreath  their  mystic  sheet  around  its 
elevated  peaks. 

As  we  glide  nearer  in  towards  its  abrupt  shores  and 
along  its  deep-green  sides,  we  discover  here  and  there  a 
hamlet ;  while  far  above  the  mists,  which  curl  around 
the  highest  acclivities,  and  sail  along  the  midway  eleva- 
tions, the  denser  clouds  are  seen  to  roll  back,  and  leave 
to  our  view  a  deep-blue  sky,  such  as  they  say  arches 
above  the  land  of  Italy. 

The  John  Adams  is  standing  in  behind  us.  The  blue 
deep,  far  out,  is  restless,  and  the  heavy  swell  heaves  the 
careening  ships  at  this  moment,  more  furiously  than  at 
any  other  time  since  we  have  been  coursing  our  way  to 
this  island  of  vines  and  flowers.  Long  slopes  of  verdure, 
and  deep  and  green  ravines,  reach  our  view  as  we  gaze ; 
and  the  imagination  easily  embowers  the  hill-sides  in 
orange  groves,  and  citron  trees,  and  pomegranates,  and 
bananas,  and  figs,  and  the  trellised  grape.  But  more  in 
description  when  we  shall  have  gained  a  nearer  view,  on 
a  fairer  evening  and  a  brighter  day. 

"  All  hands  to  reef  topsails,  ahoy  !"  sounds  through  the 
ship.  It  is  deemed  too  late  for  us  to  run  into  the  bay  of 
Funchal,  the  capital  of  Madeira ;  and  the  purpose  of  the 
Commodore  is,  to  stand  off  and  on,  under  reefed  topsails, 
during  the  night,  and  to  anchor  in  Funchal  bay  early  in 
the  morning. 

The  island  now  lies  some  four  miles  in  the  distance. 
The  sun  has  just  gone  down ;  and  the  dark  island, 
wreathed  in  its  vapor-sheet,  exhibits  an  interesting  scene 
of  the  mystic  and  the  sublime.  The  outlines  of  the  dark 
pile  are  distinctly  marked  on  the  horizon,  rising  some 
eight  thousand  feet  from  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and  now 
crowned  with  masses  of  cumuli-clouds,  with  their  round 
caps  tinged  with  the  purest  pink  and  darker  crimson,  as 
the  rays  of  the  fallen  sun  send  far  up,  in  their  slant,  their 
beams  in  profusion  and  glory ;  while  the  lower  layers  of 
the  clouds,  on  which  these  illumined  cones  are  resting, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  33 

sleep  in  their  solemn  gray  and  dun.  At  the  southwest  of 
us,  the  lashed  sea  is  still  raging ;  but  the  clouds  above  its 
dark  bosom  rest  peacefully  in  their  hundred  evening  hues, 
which  the  sun,  in  atonement  for  his  day's  absence,  now 
loans  to  these  airy  voyagers. 

But,  it  was  as  we  tacked  ships,  to  stand  off  from  the 
land,  amid  this  exhibition  of  the  mystic  in  our  north,  and 
beauty  in  our  west,  that  an  omen  gleamed  above  us,  fair 
and  bright  as  the  one  which  shone  in  the  heavens,  on  the 
eve  of  our  departure  from  our  first  anchorage-ground,  in 
our  western  land.  Directly  above  our  main,  in  the  zenith 
of  his  glory, 

"  The  bright  Arcturus,  fairest  of  the  stars," 

looked  benignantly  from  out  his  azure  hall  upon  us.  The 
sky,  over  our  heads,  was  blue,  deep,  and  clear ;  and  no 
other  brilliant  was  seen  in  the  high  heavens ;  while  the 
moon,  in  her  path  of  peerless  loveliness,  this  night,  was 
throwing  the  soft  beams  of  her  first  quarter  over  our 
right  shoulders.  The  air  was  balmy  to  the  cheek  ;  and 
we  were  happy  as  we  paced  the  deck,  and  talked  of 
things  associated  with  the  Madeiras,  and  friends,  and 
home. 


34 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  35 


SECTION    III. 

Madeira.  Funchal,  capital  of  Madeira.  Quintas.  Fortresses.  Santa 
Clara  convent.  Shrubbery  and  vines.  Olden  associations.  The  influ- 
ence of  beautiful  nature.  Visit  to  the  shore.  Breakfast  with  the  Amer- 
ican Consul.  Invitation  to  visit  Santa  Clara  convent.  Ride  to  the  Nos- 
sa  Senhora  do  Monte,  or  the  Church  of  our  Lady  of  the  Mount.  Visit 
Mr.  Blandy's  Quinta.  Avenues  of  geraniums  and  roses.  View  from 
the  terrace-house.  Miracles  of  our  Lady  of  the  Mount.  Portuguese 
seamen  pledge  their  top-sail  to  this  patron  saint  to  propitiate  her  favor  in 
danger.  Priest  and  his  present  of  eggs.  The  Catholic  system.  A  pile 
of  human  bones.  Portuguese  bury  in  their  churches.  New  cemetery. 
Visit  to  Santa  Clara  convent.  English  burial  ground.  Portuguese  fune- 
ral. The  daughter  of  the  deceased  visiting  England.  Ride  to  the  Cur- 
ral.  Scenes  on  the  road.  Peasantry.  The  grounds  of  Count  Carvalhal. 
Ramble  through  the  grounds  of  Palmyra.  Mr.  and  Miss  O.  Miss  O.'s 
opinion  of  Abbot's  Works.  The  Til.  Moving  by  torch-light  through 
the  streets  at  night.  Palanquin.  Easy  manners  of  the  Portuguese.  Eng- 
lish yatch  commanded  by  a  lady.  Legend  of  the  Madeiras.  Cultiva- 
tion of  the  grape  and  process  of  making  wine.  Tinto.  Malmsey.  Quan- 
tity of  wine  produced.  Last  eve  on  shore,  and  good-night  to  Madeira. 

WE  have  come  to  anchor,  in  full  view  of  one  of  na- 
ture's most  beautiful  landscapes.  Funchal,  the  capital 
of  Madeira,  is  about  two  miles  from  our  frigate  ;  and  the 
southern  exposure  of  the  island  lies,  in  its  enchantment, 
before  us.  Think  of  a  fairy  isle,  raising  its  high  peaks 
abruptly  8,000  feet  above  the  bosom  of  the  blue  deep, 
and  tracing  its  waved  outline  indistinctly  among  the  mys- 
tic and  dark  clouds,  which  hang,  like  spirit-shapes,  on  its 
high  and  misty  cones ;  while,  everywhere  else,  around 
and  further  yet  above  the  cloud-capt  peaks,  the  sky  is  blue 
and  clear  ;  and  the  soft  breeze  and  the  mimic  gale  from 
the  sea  strike  balmy,  like  an  eastern  atmosphere,  upon 
the  cheek.  And  then,  think  of  the  elevated  acclivities, 
and  deep  ravine,  broken  into  thousand  crests,  throwing 
their  every-shaped  shadows  over  their  own  mountainous 
and  cragged  and  unique  landscape  ;  and  every  peak,  and 
every  slope,  and  every  ravine,  covered  with  vineyard 
and  garden,  and  ever-green  tree  and  shrub  and  flower, 
varying  from  the  palest  gold  of  harvest  time  to  the  deep- 
est and  prevailing  verdure  of  the  freshest  meadow  ;  and 
then  the  villas,  or  country  residences  of  the  English  mer- 


00  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

chants  and  the  wealthier  Portuguese,  which  are  here 
called  quintas,  of  all  dimensions,  with  red-tiled  tops,  and 
piazza  and  balcony  and  corridors  for  promenade  and 
look-outs,  and  trellised  terraces  for  the  embowering  vines  ; 
and  then,  the  antique  cathedral  and  the  ancient  fortress, 
and  the  sacred  convent ;  and  then,  the  mountain,  capped 
with  an  eternal  cloud,  and  the  far-surrounding  ocean, 
in  eternal  blue,  and  you  will  have  some  of  the  outlines, 
which  go  to  make  up  one  of  the  most  glowing  pictures 
of  the  beautiful  I  ever  saw.  It  is  almost  perfect  as  a 
specimen  of  rural  scenery  of  its  kind.  It  only  needs  a 
few  castles  on  some  of  the  high  peaks  of  the  elevated 
positions,  to  render  it  quite  so. 

The  houses  of  Funchal  rise  one  above  the  other,  from 
the  edge  of  the  sea,  which  tumbles  its  breakers,  inces- 
santly upon  the  narrow  and  dark-pebbled  beach.  The 
Loo  fort  is  seen  on  the  right  of  the  city,  constructed  on 
the  top  of  a  rectangular  rock  of  basalt,  encrusted  with 
the  outer  honey-comb  layer  of  lava ;  and  rises  from  out 
the  sea  a  few  yards  from  the  main  beach. 

Another  fortress  is  situated  near  the  sea,  and  is  still 
garrisoned.  Between  the  two  lie  the  pile  of  buildings, 
occupied  by  the  Franciscan  monks  before  their  expulsion 
from  the  island,  but  now  possessed  as  barracks  for  the 
Governor's  guards.  Further  up,  the  convent  of  Santa 
Clara,  with  its  dusky  and  rectangular  walls,  appears  above 
city  spire  and  city  dwellings.  Ascending  still  higher  the 
steep  acclivity,  rising  like  an  amphitheatre  before  you, 
the  beautiful  quintas  of  the  English  merchants  and  the 
Portuguese,  are  seen,  every  way,  studding  the  elevated 
points,  and  lay  before  the  enchanted  eye  embowered  in 
nature's  freshest  green,  amid  shrubs,  and  orange  trees, 
and  figs,  and  citrons,  and  bananas,  the  coffee  tree,  and 
the  pomegranate  ;  with  every  other  point,  unoccupied  by 
shrub  and  tree,  covered  with  spacious  areas  of  trellised 
vines,  in  their  richest  foliage,  the  whole  together  exhibit- 
ing one  blended  scene  of  rural  loveliness,  too  distant  to 
enable  one  to  particularize  the  different  kind  of  shrub,  and 
tree,  and  flower,  but  delighting  the  beholder  with  the 
blended  beauties  of  one  of  nature's  own  amphitheatres, 
where  she  has  poured  out,  with  the  munificence  of  her 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  37 

tropical  hand,  the  gorgeous  magnificence  of  a  perennial 
green-house.  And  still  above  ail  this  beauty  of  vine,  and 
shrub,  and  tree,  and  folia  of  fig  and  orange  and  pomegran- 
ate, and  the  beautiful  quintas,  and  the  imposing  turret, 
and  fortress,  and  convent,  stands  in  lovely  and  bold  re- 
lief, the  Nossa  Senhora  do  Monte,  or  the  Church  of  our 
Lady  of  the  Mount.  It  is  the  highest  building  seen,  and 
rivets  the  eye  of  the  stranger.  Its  proportions  are  in 
keeping,  and  its  two  turrets,  rising  on  either  side  of  the 
front,  give  the  picturesque  edifice  the  loveliest  appear- 
ance, as  it  rests,  in  its  quiet  repose,  and  high-up  retire- 
ment. Its  white  walls  are  beautifully  relieved  by  one 
extended  curtain  of  green,  which  rises  still  further 
above  its  white  walls  to  meet  the  clouds  in  their  ever  un- 
dulating volumes.  And  from  the  commanding  front  of 
this  solitary  building,  you  gaze  on  all  this  beauty  below, 
in  its  blended  grandeur  and  loveliness  ;  on  the  vast  ocean, 
from  whose  blue  bosom  the  green  isle  awakes  ;  and  now 
upon  our  own  sleeping  war-ships,  as  they  ride,  in  their 
security  and  distance,  like  mimic  models  of  their  own 
beautiful  reality,  on  the  edge  of  the  broad  expanse  of  the 
boundless  main.  But  still  further  up  from  the  nestling 
place  of  our  Lady  of  the  Mount,  the  green  mountain 
steeps  are  coated  in  verdant  shrub  and  tear  grass,  and 
flowering  broom,  and  heath,  and  sweet  balm,  until  the 
veil  of  the  dark  spirit  of  the  mountain-heights,  forbids 
the  eye  to  penetrate  her  loftier  and  clouded  home.  Sure- 
ly the  Fairy-Queen  poet  dreamed  not  of  a  lovlier  scene 
than  this,  wherever  his  vision  was  bearing  him  in  the  fol- 
lowing lines : 

It  was  a  chosen  spot  of  blooming  land, 

Amongst  wide  waves,  set  like  a  little  nest, 
As  if  it  had  by  nature's  cunning  hand 

Been  choicely  picked  out  from  all  the  rest, 

And  laid  forth  as  example  of  the  best. 
No  daintie  herb,  or  flower,  that  glows  on  ground, 

No  arboreth  with  painted  blossoms  drest, 
And  smiling  sweet,  but  there  it  might  be  found, 
To  bud  out  fair,  and  her  sweet  fragrance  throw  around. 

And  all  this  I  gaze  upon,  as  I  stand,  lost  in  delightful 
4 


38  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

reverie,  on  the  deck  of  our  own  beautiful  Columbia,  sleep- 
ing calmly,  and  confident  in  her  own  prowess,  on  these 
waters,  in  full  view  of  this  enchanting  landscape.  And 
the  eye  tires  not,  as  one's  thoughts,  in  connection  with  the 
olden  story  of  this  sunny  isle  and  summer  beauty,  come 
over  the  memory,  in  recollected  legend  or  truer  history. 
Here  has  been  revolution  on  revolution.  Here  the  prince 
to-day  has  been  embarked,  in  an  hour  and  in  secret,  for 
his  distant  exile.  And  here  the  priest  has  ridden,  in  his 
ghostly  power,  and  with  undisputed  dictate,  a  supersti- 
tious and  submissive  people  ;  and  again,  the  people  have 
aroused  to  a  sense  of  their  degradation  and  the  imposi- 
tion of  the  Franciscan  hoards,  and  expelled  them  from 
their  isle.  And  here  the  nun,  for  years  the  inmate  of  the 
cloister,  and  doomed  no  more  to  look  abroad  upon  the 
world,  save  through  a  double  grating  or  convent  lattice, 
in  the  tide  of  revolutions  has  been  set  free,  and  walked 
again  in  liberty  and  light.  But  again  the  restrictions  are 
placed  upon  her,  and  she  is  re-enclosed  within  the  halls 
of  her  ancient  home. 

I  indulged  myself,  for  hours,  in  delightful  contemplation 
of  the  beautiful  scene  before  me,  as  seen  from  the  quarter 
deck  of  our  frigate.  Nothing  could  more  calmly  sooth 
the  heart,  whatever  may  have  been  its  musings  of  sad- 
ness or  of  joy,  in  retracing  the  past,  or  in  sorrowful  or 
happy  anticipation  of  the  future.  There  are  some  scenes 
which  we  love  to  treasure  among  the  fadeless  things,  in 
the  arcana  of  our  choicest  memories,  to  which  we  recur, 
when  things  around,  and  men  more  than  things,  become 
insipid.  I  felt  assured  that  the  scene  before  me  was  one 
of  these.  I  find  myself  daily  more  and  more  susceptible 
to  the  influence  of  beautiful  nature  ;  while  she  often  com- 
munes with  me,  as  one  who  has  sympathies  kindred  to 
my  own.  She  never  upbraids  the  confiding  heart — she 
never  looks  with  cold  suspicion — she  has  about  her 
nothing  that  is  mean,  or  low,  or  unrefined ;  but  hers  is 
an  open  brow — a  warm,  and  pure,  and  noble  heart — and 
she  has  thoughts  that  are  holier  than  earth  elsewhere 
knows,  which  she  will  give,  with  generous  and  cordial 
liberality,  to  that  spirit,  which  lets  the  eye  rest  on  her 
mellowed  beauties,  with  a  melting  and  gushing  heart. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  39 

Commend  me  then  to  her  loveliness  and  proffered  sym- 
pathies, when  the  heart  feels  alone,  in  its  deep  and  young 
desolation. 

I  had  fixed  the  lovely  picture  of  Madeira's  green  ac- 
clivities in  my  mind,  and  dwelled  upon  it  with  increased 
and  increasing  emotion  and  delight.  And  thus  I  felt  pre- 
pared for  my  first  visit  on  shore,  while  I  only  feared  that 
a  nearer  view  might  dissipate  the  fairy  vision,  which  lay 
so  willingly  and  distinct  among  those  remembrances 
which  fail  not.  Our  time  at  the  island  would  be  short, 
and  much,  it  was  said,  existed  on  shore  to  interest  the 
stranger,  and  was  worthy  of  his  observation.  I  went  early 
the  morning  succeeding  our  arrival,  and  breakfasted,  by 
invitation,  with  the  American  consul.  This  gentleman, 
ever  attentive  to  the  officers  of  the  ship,  introduced  me 
to  Mr.  B.,  who  is  said  to  have  large  possessions  on  the 
island,  and  to  whose  courteous  and  gentlemanly  manners 
I  am  happy  here  to  bear  testimony,  in  the  remembrance 
of  our  agreeable  visit  to  Madeira.  By  Mr.  B.  I  was  ac- 
companied to  the  Reading  Rooms ;  and  afterwards, 
through  his  kindness,  was  introduced  to  another  of  the 
English  residents,  who  is  supposed  to  have  considerable 
influence  with  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  the  island. 
Mr.  P.,  the  name  of  this  gentleman,  had  received  an  in- 
vitation to  dine  with  the  Vicar-General,  or  Bishop  of  Ma- 
deira, at  Santa  Clara  Convent,  where  the  Bishop  was  to 
visit,  during  the  day.  Mr.  P.  had  induced  the  vicar  to 
allow  him,  on  this  occasion,  to  introduce  some  of  his 
friends  into  the  convent,  and  politely  extended  his  invita- 
tion to  myself.  Four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  was  the 
hour  appointed  for  our  introduction  into  the  enclosures 
within  the  convent  walls. 

In  the  mean  time  I  took  a  ride  to  the  church,  high  up 
on  the  green  slant,  previously  alluded  to  as  Nossa  Sen- 
hora  do  Monte,  our  Lady  of  the  Mount.  We  procured 
our  horses  and  attendants.  Every  thing  around  us  ap- 
peared unique,  and  the  mode  of  our  conveyance  was 
quite  in  character  with  our  circumstances.  The  road  to 
the  mount  church,  in  its  ascent  of  the  mountain,  is  in- 
credibly steep,  and  as  far  as  the  Nossa  Senhora  do  Monte  is 
paved  with  the  blue  pebbles  of  the  beach,  and  basalt  from 


40  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  mountain.  The  angle  of  ascent  is  frequently  twenty 
degrees.  We  mounted  our  horses,  and  at  our  side  stood 
our  burroqueros,  or  foot-boys,  in  their  picturesque  costume 
of  the  island  peasantry,  and  each  with  his  wooden  staff, 
six  or  seven  feet  in  length.  "  Nossa  Senhora  do  Monte," 
we  said,  and  dashed  oft'  in  full  spring  as  the  burroquero 
swept  his  staff  against  the  flanks  of  the  horse,  and  seized 
the  animal  by  the  tail,  to  be  borne  along  in  company 
with  the  cavalcade ;  and  every  now  and  then,  again 
riving  the  sides  of  the  horse,  and  particularly  at  the  steep- 
est parts  of  the  road,  up  which  fearful  acclivities  the  horses 
sprung  in  full  canter,  with  their  hoofs  clattering  over  the 
paved  way,  with  the  riders  upon  their  backs  and  the  at- 
tendants at  their  tails.  I  suffered  my  companions  to 
advance,  while  I  held  in  my  spirited  horse,  and  to  my  un- 
bounded amusement,  contemplated  the  comical  exhibition 
of  the  riders  in  full  speed  before  me,  with  their  burro- 
queros at  their  horses'  tails,  all  on  the  full  jump,  ascending 
the  fearful  steeps  which,  in  our  own  land,  would  have 
been  deemed  almost,  if  not  quite,  inaccessible.  While  we 
thus  rushed  up  the  aslant,  the  clatter  of  our  horses'  hoofs 
often  drew  the  Portuguese  brunet  to  the  terraces,  ever 
above  us,  as  the  quintas,  with  their  elevated  walls  and 
embowered  terraces,  lined  our  narrow  way,  two  thirds 
the  distance  to  the  Church  of  the  Mount.  Over  these 
walls,  in  truant  festoons  falling  from  the  terrace,  and  filling 
every  crevice  in  the  walls,  hung  the  luxuriant  geraniums 
and  multifloras,  and  rose  of  every  kind,  and  other  flowers, 
and  vines  in  profusion,  trailing  down  their  branches  and 
making  our  ascending  way  a  path  of  blossom,  and  per- 
fume, and  flowery  beauty. 

When  we  had  reached  some  distance  up  the  mountain 
ascent,  with  quintas  on  each  side  of  the  narrow  way,  we 
paused  at  the  country  seat  of  Mr.  Blandy,  who  had  in- 
vited me,  during  the  morning,  to  visit  his  quinta,  as  I  rode 
to  the  mount. 

We  turned  in  from  the  road  to  the  left,  through  a  gate- 
way, which  opened  into  his  grounds,  and  found  ourselves 
at  once  among  winding  avenues  of  geraniums,  and  roses, 
and  other  flowering  shrubs,  which,  in  America,  are  cher- 
ished as  choice  plants,  in  flower-pots,  and  preserved  in 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  41 

green-houses.     It  is  this  particularity  which  delights  and 
surprises  the  eye.     As  we  turned  to  the  left,  we  pursued 
one  of  these  hedged  avenues  of  geraniums,  which  I  took 
to  be  of  that  beautiful  species  called  the  Princess  Caro- 
line, bearing  a  large  flower,  and  here,  in  its  luxuriance, 
growing  five  feet  high,  and  inlocking  its  branches  so  as 
to  form  a  thick  hedge  on  either  side  of  the  pathway. 
The  avenue  extended  along  the  high  terrace,  overlooking 
the  roadside,  until  it  reached  the  front  part  of  the  garden, 
at  which  point  it  commanded  the  city  and  harbor  and  the 
blended  beauties  of  the  glowing  scene  below.     Owing  to 
the  steep  ascent  of  the  mountain,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  raise  high  walls  for  gaining  a  level  for  the  buildings, 
and  the  pleasure  grounds  around  them.     The  terraces 
thus  formed  are  numerous,  in  different  parts  of  the  grounds 
of  the  quintas,  forming  levels  of  made  soil  for  flower- 
enamelled  paths,  and  trellises  for  the  vine,  and  for  fruit- 
trees  and  ornamental  shrubs,  which  nature  here,  with  the 
soil  of  volcanic  ruins,  and  an  atmosphere  ever  revivifying 
to  produce  and  sustain  in  greatest  perfection,  has  lavished, 
with  a  luxuriant  hand,  on  this  green  isle  of  the  sea.     We 
walked  through  the  grounds,  every  avenue  being  lined 
either  with  geraniums  or  roses,  or  other  flowering  shrubs. 
The  japonica  was  seen  to  rise  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in 
height,  and  spread  in  like  proportion — the  hyderanger,  in 
its  luxuriance,  spreading  its  branches  to  a  circumference 
of  twenty  to  thirty  feet.    All  is  luxuriance.    We  marked 
the  coffee  tree,  now  beginning  to  be  successfully  cultiva- 
ted in  the  island — the  pomegranate,  decked  with  its  scarlet 
blossoms — the  fig.  in  its  green  luxuriance — the  banana, 
raising  high  its  long  and  fan-like  leaves.     A  hundred  or- 
namental flowering  trees,  high  and  spreading,  decked  the 
grounds  ;  and  in  this  rich  season  of  flowers,  one  tree,  of 
forest  height,  attracted  and  held  my  admiration.     It  was 
wreathed  in  multifloras,  so  as  to  exhibit  one  complete 
layer  of  these  clustered  roses   over  every  part  of  the 
stem  and  boughs  of  the  tree,  exhibiting  a  rose  tower  in 
its  magnificence  and  beauty. 

The  walk  which  we  first  entered  extended  along  the 
terrace,  which  rose  high  above  the  road,  and  terminated 
abruptly  in  a  rectangular  summer-house  on  the  terrace, 
4* 


42  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

From  this,  one  contemplates  the  beauties  of  the  scene  be- 
fore and  beneath  him,  with  the  ranges  of  the  green  hills 
on  either  side,  and  the  vineyards,  and  embowered  houses, 
together  with  the  blue  bosom  of  the  harbor,  dotted  by 
the  vessels  of  varied  and  fairy  forms,  that  repose  upon  its 
surface,  or  are  seen  sailing  in  the  offing. 

Here  I  could  have  lingered,  and  mused,  and  thought, 
delighted,  on  crowding  subjects,  which  this  fair  isle  of  the 
Madeiras  awakes,  and  on  dearer  objects  of  the  land  of 
my  home.  But  we  were  yet  to  visit  the  Nossa  Senhora 
do  Monte,  and  return  to  the  city  in  time  to  meet  our  en- 
gagement at  four  o'clock,  that  we  might  not  lose  the  pleas- 
ure of  our  contemplated  visit  to  the  convent  of  Santa 
Clara.  We  therefore  remounted  our  horses,  and  left  this 
lovely  quinta  for  the  Church  of  the  Mount,  with  a  secret 
purpose  of  again  threading  the  beautiful  avenues  of  Mr. 
B.'s  country  seat,  which,  to-day,  was  unoccupied  by  his 
family. 

It  will  strike  the  visitor  to  the  Madeiras  as  a  peculiarity, 
that  the  country  residences  here  are  not  found  by  riding 
some  distance  into  the  interior.  On  the  contrary,  all  the 
advantages  of  country  air,  and  of  an  escape  from  the  heat 
of  city- walls,  is  secured  by  ascending  the  heights  of  the 
mountain,  until  the  temperature  desired  is  gained.  Thus 
a  delightful  and  salubrious  atmosphere  is  found  by  a  half 
hour's  climbing  up  the  steep  roads,  to  those  beautiful 
eyries,  where  lovers  might  nestle  in  their  ever-green  bow- 
ers and  flower-enamelled  paths;  and  philosophers  become 
poets ;  and  poets  philosophize  and  be  happy.  The  pro- 
prietors of  these  quintas,  while  residing  in  the  city,  during 
the  cooler  parts  of  the  seasons,  not  unfrequently  retire  to 
their  mountain  seats,  when  they  would  invite  a  party  of 
their  friends  to  partake  of  the  sociability  of  their  free  and 
elegant  hospitality,  their  furthest  seats  being  within  a 
half  hour's  ride  from  the  points  of  their  business  and  city 
houses. 

When  we  had  ascended  still  higher  up,  to  reach  the 
Church  of  the  Mount,  we  alighted  at  a  flight  of  steps  lead- 
ing to  the  artificial  level,  on  which  the  edifice  of  the  church 
of  Our  Lady  is  situated.  We  found  a  number  of  the 
younger  officers  of  the  Columbia  already  at  the  church, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  43 

but  having  satisfied  their  curiosity,  were  soon  on  their  de- 
scent of  the  mountain. 

The  sexton  was  ready  to  exhibit  every  thing  which 
could  gratify  our  observation  or  interest  our  curiosity. 

Our  Lady  of  the  Mount  is  represented  by  a  small  figure 
about  two  feet  in  height ;  and  as  the  patron  saint  of  the 
island,  she  is  preserved  with  great  care  within  a  glass  case 
upon  the  principal  altar  of  the  church.  She  is  decorated 
with  a  wax  wig  and  tinselled  robes  ;  and  formerly  dis- 
played about  her  person  chains  of  gold,  and  gems  yet 
more  precious,  as  gifts  of  her  devotees.  The  revolution 
of  time  and  sentiment  has  left  her  sanctuary,  as  well  as 
herself,  with  only  imitations  of  what  once  was. 

We  were  unable,  from  personal  observation,  to  know 
how  sacredly  this  saint  of  the  island  is  now  venerated,  but 
many  stories  are  related,  or  rather,  observed  scenes  are 
recorded,  to  show  the  high  esteem  with  which  the  Nossa 
Senhora  of  the  mount  has  been  held.  And  the  supersti- 
tions of  the  lower  orders  at  least,  are  slow  to  be  removed 
from  their  credulous  minds ;  nor  are  they  easily  restrain- 
ed from  ceremonies  long  cherished  and  practised  in  their 
religious  devotions. 

In  1803,  owing  to  the  profusion  of  rain  from  the  con- 
densation of  the  clouds  upon  the  mountains,  the  swelling 
streams  which  rush  down  the  ravines  almost  flooded  the 
city,  so  as  to  destroy  a  large  number  of  houses,  to  the 
sacrifice  of  many  lives.  This  period  of  inundation  from 
the  mountains,  is  even  now  spoken  of,  almost  as  a  dating 
epoch.  "  Such  a  thing  occurred  before  or  since  the  flood," 
meaning  the  inundation  of  1803.  After  this  devastation 
of  waters  had  ceased,  the  image  of  this  patron  saint  was 
conveyed,  in  solemn  procession,  from  her  home  of  the 
mount  to  the  city,  where  the  greatest  pomp  and  ceremony 
attended  her ;  the  clergy,  and  the  military,  and  the  civil 
authorities  appearing  in  their  gaudiest  exhibition,  with  the 
impression  that  her  presence  could  stay  any  succeeding 
inundation.  After  the  public  ceremonies  and  processions 
of  the  streets  were  over,  and  due  honors  paid,  the  Lady 
Patroness  was  placed  for  some  months  on  the  altar  of  the 
cathedral  in  the  city  ;  but  afterwards  she  was  returned  to 
her  own  altar  at  her  proper  mountain  home,  with  demon- 


44  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

strations  of  respect  and  veneration,  as  the  church  of  the 
mount  was  built,  according  to  the  legend  of  the  island,  on 
the  spot  where  the  saint  was  originally  found,  soon  after 
the  first  discovery  of  the  island. 

One  of  her  well-accredited  miracles  (if  we  believe  the 
credulous  testimony  of  her  attached  devotees)  will  suffice 
to  be  narrated  here,  as  a  specimen  of  the  many  and  extra- 
ordinary performances  of  our  Lady  of  the  Mount.  The 
incident  occurred  during  the  American  revolutionary  war, 
when  a  great  and  threatening  scarcity  prevailed  at  the 
island  of  Madeira,  in  consequence  of  the  British  cruisers 
preventing  the  American  vessels  from  conveying  to  the 
island  the  usual  supply  of  bread-stuff.  In  this  state  of  dis- 
tress, supplication  was  made  to  the  Lady  of  the  Mount, 
that  her  influence  might  be  secured,  and  by  her  interces- 
sion that  the  calamity  might  be  removed,  and  the  general 
distress  be  relieved.  This  ceremony  was  attended  by  a 
public  procession,  and  accompanied  by  various  devotional 
rites.  At  daybreak  on  the  following  morning,  it  is  said, 
a  ship  appeared  in  the  offing,  which  afterwards  was  found 
to  be  laden  with  wheat,  from  Portugal.  The  inhabitants 
on  repairing  to  the  mount  church,  found  the  lady-saint's 
clothes  dripping  wet  with  salt-water,  which  was  interpret- 
ed by  the  priests  to  be  conclusive  evidence  that  the  patron- 
ess had  taken  a  trip  to  sea  during  the  night,  to  hasten 
the  vessel  which  had  so  unexpectedly  been  descried  in  the 
offing.  The  crew  of  the  vessel,  on  their  reaching  land, 
were  greatly  astonished  when  the  circumstances  of  the 
miracle  were  told  them  ;  and,  on  recollection,  it  occurred 
to  them  that  they  had  been  becalmed  some  distance  off 
the  island  just  at  sunset,  the  preceding  evening,  when  they 
saw  something  white  rising  from  the  waves,  which  hover- 
ed about  the  vessel,  and  ere  long  they  were  impelled  to 
Funchal.  This  narrative  of  the  crew  confirmed  the  mi- 
racle ;  and  the  miraculous  interference  of  the  Lady  of  the 
Mount,  on  this  occasion,  it  is  said,  remains  an  article  in 
the  faith  of  the  devoted  worshippers  at  the  altar  of  the 
Nossa  Senhora  do  Monte,  until  the  present  time. 

There  is  a  custom  among  the  Portuguese  seamen,  in 
case  of  danger  or  difficulties  at  sea,  to  devote,  with  a  solemn 
vow,  their  topsail,  or  some  other  article,  to  the  Lady  of 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  45 

the  Mount.  On  their  reaching  their  home  in  safety,  they 
go  in  procession  to  her  altar,  bearing  their  devoted  canvass, 
but  they  redeem  the  trophy,  by  paying,  in  money,  the 
amount  of  its  value,  as  affixed  by  the  priest. 

But  the  glory  and  the  power  of  this  patron  saint,  I 
should  judge,  when  contrasting  her  present  appearance 
with  her  affirmed  splendor  of  other  days,  has  passed,  in 
no  inconsiderable  degree,  if  not  for  ever,  away,  while  the 
ceremonies  and  the  public  processions  yet  continue.  And 
the  peasantry  are  greatly  fond  of  these  festivals  and  public 
processions.  They  gather  from  their  mountain  recesses 
on  the  occasion,  and  give  themselves  to  the  enjoyment  of 
the  holidays.  We  regretted  that  we  should  leave  the  island 
on  Saturday  evening,  which  would  prevent  us  from  wit- 
nessing the  various  ceremonies  of  one  of  their  most  inter- 
esting seasons,  the  succeeding  Sunday  being  Whit-Sunday. 
On  Saturday  evening,  however,  we  saw,  from  the  frigate, 
the  bonfires  on  many  a  peak,  and  the  church  of  the  mount 
sent  forth  the  brilliant  rays  of  her  taper-lights  far  over  the 
blue  deep,  from  her  high  and  beautiful  eminence. 

We  indulged  ourselves  by  walking  through  the  main 
edifice  and  the  various  rooms,  where  the  laced  robes  of 
the  priests  are  kept,  some  of  which  had  been  rich  in  their 
day,  and  are  still  gaudy  and  imposing  to  the  peasant's  eye, 
though  thread-worn  to  the  curious.  The  pictures  were 
generally  indifferently  executed,  some  of  them  even  cari- 
catures. I  was  struck  with  one,  however,  in  connection 
with  an  anecdote  narrated  at  the  time,  by  the  gentleman 
who  accompanied  me  to  the  mount.  This  painting  repre- 
sented the  presentation  of  eggs,  with  various  other  things, 
to  the  infant  Saviour,  who  was  resting  in  the  lap  of  his 
virgin  mother ;  certainly  no  impolitic  design  to  encourage 
the  donations  from  the  peasantry  to  the  Franciscans,  who, 
by  the  tenets  of  their  order,  possess  no  property,  save  a 
place  to  lodge  in,  while  they  live  on  the  gifts  of  the  people. 
Before  the  expulsion  of  the  Franciscans,  the  scene  of  a 
friar  with  his  bag,  collecting  eggs  and  bread  and  other 
eatables,  was  a  common  and  hourly  scene,  and  met  with 
encouragement  from  their  devoted  admirers.  And  as  we 
stood  before  the  picture,  my  friend  instanced  a  case  of  one 
of  the  priests,  who,  when  delivering  his  discourse,  spoke  to 


46  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  people  in  the  following  frank  language :  "  My  flock, 
you  may  make  me  presents  if  you  choose,  or  not,  as  it 
may  please  you  ;  but  if  you  make  me  presents,  no  hum- 
bugs, if  you  please  ;  bring  me  no  rotten  eggs  :  good  ones, 
if  any  thing."  While  the  Franciscans  have  been  expelled 
from  their  ancient  home  on  the  island,  a  small  number  of 
priests  of  the  college  have  been  retained ;  and  the  nuns 
still  possess  their  enclosures,  with  the  rents  derived  from 
the  convent  grounds,  and  entails.  The  salaries  of  the 
priests,  however,  are  less  than  formerly  ;  and  the  bishop 
now  receives  only  $2000,  while  his  former  income  amount- 
ed to  £4000  with  perquisites,  which,  together,  often  reach- 
ed the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  and  upwards.  So 
passes  the  glory  of  the  popish  world,  in  her  olden  pos- 
sessions. 

I  have  no  heart  to  upbraid  the  Roman  Catholic.  It  is 
always  an  emotion  of  solemn  pity,  that  comes  over  me, 
when  I  pace  their  dismantled  cathedrals,  and  decaying 
halls,  or  listen  to  their  venerated,  but  superstitious,  and,  as 
a  Protestant,  I  think,  very  often,  puerile  worship.  But,  I 
well  know  that  the  heart  is  the  secret  place  which  the  eye 
of  Omnipotence  penetrates,  and  I  firmly  believe  he  often 
finds  in  the  Catholic  worshipper  great  sincerity.  But,  I 
also  hold,  that  the  whole  system  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
rituals,  and  monkish  celibacy,  and  many  worse  than  fool- 
ish accompaniments  of  their  worship,  tend  to  great  cor- 
ruption in  a  community  purely  Roman  Catholic,  and  to  the 
great  perversion  of  the  simple  and  true  worship  of  the 
Deity.  It  is  in  vain  for  the  advocates  of  Papacy  to  deny 
the  corruptions  which  have  existed,  or  the  severities  which 
have  sprung  from  a  system  which  has  had  its  triumphs, 
and  in  the  advance  of  intelligence  and  purer  systems,  we 
think,  must  have  its  downfall.  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 
their  dependencies,  give  a  story  which  has  been  recorded 
on  the  page  of  history  with  a  pen  of  blood.  And  O  !  how 
devoted  have  millions  been,  in  the  execution  of  the  mis- 
guided plans  of  infuriated  zealots,  and  in  the  support  of 
erroneous  tenets  !  But  the  age  in  which  crime,  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  church,  was  deemed  a  virtue,  and  intolerance 
believed  to  be  furthering  the  cause  of  the  cross,  existed 
when  men  had  not  learned  the  correct  principles  of  Chris- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  47 

tian  ethics,  and  the  world  deemed  that  their  several  reli- 
gions were  to  be  propagated  even  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  If  our  charities  were  a  little  more  enlightened  by 
a  knowledge  of  the  spirit  of  ages  past,  and  we  judged  of 
the  actions  of  men  in  connection  with  the  spirit  which 
ruled  the  times  in  which  they  existed,  we  should  be  more 
lenient  in  our  estimate  of  their  motives  when  criticising 
their  actions.  And  we  should  regret  rather  than  upbraid, 
when  we  perceive  that  the  circumstances  of  the  period 
in  which  they  lived,  did  not  embrace,  in  its  elements  of 
religion,  a  philosophy,  so  far  as  systems  were  concerned, 
which  inculcated  mutual  forbearance,  and  heaven-born 
charity.  Toleration,  either  by  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
was  unknown  until  the  seventeenth  century.  And  the 
Catholics  will  have  to  live  through  years  yet  onward,  be- 
fore they  will  come  to  appreciate  the  errors  of  their  sys- 
tem, and  the  unscriptural  and  intolerant  inculcations  of 
their  creed.  But  the  ball  of  revolution  has  been  set  in 
motion.  The  power  of  the  Papal  hierarchy  has  been  pa- 
ralyzed by  the  advance  of  more  enlightened  public  senti- 
ment, and  truer  philosophy  than  that  of  earlier  ages.  It 
must  still  go  on.  We  see  already  the  mouldering  relics 
of  the  ancient  system.  And  while  we  walk  through  her 
antique  aisles,  of  cathedral,  and  abbey,  and  convent,  we 
rejoice  in  the  assurance  that  there  is  a  breaking  up  of  olden 
foundations,  for  the  laying  of  a  basis  of  a  more  beautiful 
superstructure  in  morals.  Yet  as  we  reflect  on  the  past 
and  the  present,  we  pity — we  sigh — we  hope,  while  a 
cloud  yet  veils  the  onward  prospect,  as  it  looms  up,  how 
darkly  !  in  the  coming  future. 

We  had  gone  through  the  building,  no  way  remarkable 
for  its  superstructure,  but  a  convenient  edifice,  and  once, 
doubtless,  imposing  in  its  decorations.  But  now  it  exhibits 
little  else  than  gilded  altars  and  an  occasional  silver  cross, 
defaced  paintings,  and  two  indifferent  and  even  offensive 
statues,  as  they  are  robed  in  their  canonicals. 

My  friend  asked  our  cicerone  to  show  us  the  place 
where  he  deposited  the  bones,  when  they  were  taken  from 
the  common  vault.  We  passed  over  the  pavements,  which 
form  the  great  terrace  of  the  church,  and  reached  a  door 
in  a  wall  which  rises  some  feet  on  the  outer  edge  of  the 


48  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

level  on  which  the  church  stands.  The  sexton  applied 
his  key,  and  the  door  opened,  when  a  sight  addressed  the 
eye,  which  would  have  pained  a  less  susceptible  heart 
than  my  own.  A  pile  of  human  bones  lay  beneath  us, 
within  an  unwalled  rectangular  space  ;  and  as  my  eye  ran 
over  the  mass,  I  counted  fifty-one  skulls.  Probably  in  the 
same  pile,  there  were  thousands,  with  their  attendant  skel- 
etons, which  it  would  have  taken  a  number  of  men  a  num- 
ber of  days  to  remove. 

It  is  the  custom  of  the  Portuguese  to  bury  the  dead  in 
their  churches.  They  inter  the  bodies  within  the  same 
vault,  or  rather  they  dig  the  grave  for  the  body  which  is 
to  be  interred,  among  the  bones  and  dust  of  those  who 
have  already  been  buried.  That  the  body  may  be  more 
rapidly  consumed,  they  mingle  quicklime  with  the  earth 
that  covers  the  inhumed  relics.  The  earth  of  the  conse- 
crated enclosure  is  deemed  holy  ground.  But  where  the 
soil  is  so  shallow  as  in  most  places  on  the  island,  and  par- 
ticularly at  the  point  where  the  church  of  the  mount  is 
located,  the  excavation  can  be  but  a  few  feet  deep,  and 
extending  but  a  few  feet  in  width.  And  within  this  place 
the  peasantry  of  the  surrounding  situations  are  interred. 
But  seldom  habituated  to  think  for  themselves,  and  ever 
ready  to  believe  in  the  miraculous,  they  dream  not  that 
the  bones  of  their  forefathers  rest  not  where  they  are 
consigning  their  own  contemporary  friends,  and  where, 
ere  long,  they  hope  they  may  themselves  be  interred. 
They,  nevertheless,  do  not  rest  there.  At  intervals  the 
bones  of  the  mingled  bodies  are  removed,  to  make  room 
for  the  ever  unanswered  demands  of  the  stern  arbiter, 
whom  nothing  will  propitiate — whose  heart  nothing  will 
make  relent.  And  while  this  necessity  exists  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  bones  of  the  bodies  which  are  here  buried, 
one  upon  the  other,  it  yet  seemed  to  me  to  be  an  unjustifi- 
able imposition,  if  it  be  one,  that  the  mass  of  the  people 
should  be  ignorant  of  the  disinhuming  of  the  relics  of  the 
dead,  while  they  dream  that  they  are  mouldering  where 
they  hope  that  they  themselves,  when  they  shall  be  called 
hence,  shall  also  moulder,  in  kindred  dust,  within  the  bosom 
of  their  own  and  popular  patron  saint,  the  Nossa  Senhora 
do  Monte. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  49 

It  is  a  laudable  object  of  the  city  authority,  at  the  pre- 
sent moment,  to  encourage  among  the  Portuguese  the 
burial  of  the  dead  in  an  open  ground.  They  are  now 
preparing  a  pere  la  chaise  on  the  bank  of  the  west  side 
of  the  city,  near  the  water,  commanding  a  lovely  view  of 
the  sea.  It  must  eventually  become  popular,  even  with 
the  Portuguese,  as  a  place  for  burial.  As  yet,  however, 
it  is  unfinished,  though  tastefully  inwalled ;  and  the  ground 
is  nearly  prepared.  The  portal  entrance  is  very  respect- 
able, and  the  whole,  altogether,  a  worthy  and  commend- 
able project. 

We  now  took  our  last  view  of  the  lovely  scene,  pre- 
sented from  the  front  terrace  of  the  Church  of  the  Mount. 
The  city  was  far,  far  down ;  and  between  the  city  and 
ourselves,  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  slept  the  lovely 
quintas,  embowered  in  their  luxuriance  of  vine  and  flowers, 
and  fruit-trees,  and  ornamental  shrubbery,  with  the  rip- 
pling streams  from  the  mountains  always  passing  through 
the  premises  to  water  the  grounds  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
proprietors,  or  to  replenish  their  ponds  or  jets  of  water. 
And  then,  beyond  quinta,  and  city,  and  fortress,  and  shore, 
our  eye,  for  a  moment,  lingered  on  our  own  sea-home 
dwellings,  which  had  brought  us  safely  from  the  lands  of 
our  western  homes  ;  and  we  blessed  them  for  their  stanch 
properties,  and  admired  them  for  their  beautiful  propor- 
tions, and  felt  willing  again  to  trust  us  to  the  safety  of  their 
keeping.  But  we  could  linger  no  longer,  and  we  remount- 
ed our  horses  and  dashed  down  the  steep  declivities,  with 
the  velocity  with  which  we  had  ascended.  And  yet  our 
horses  tripped  not ;  and  what  elsewhere  would  have  seem- 
ed inevitable  destruction,  here,  from  the  confidence  we  had 
in  the  surefooted  beasts,  was  regarded  but  pleasing  excite- 
ment, as  we  dared  the  steep  and  fearful  slant,  at  the  speed 
of  a  full  trot. 

VISIT    TO    SANTA    CLARA    CONVENT. 

The  convents  of  Madeira,  in  connection  with  other  ob- 
jects of  interest,  had  been  the  subject  of  frequent  conver- 
sation, during  our  passage  to  the  island.  One  of  the  in- 
mates of  Santa  Clara  Convent,  too,  from  romantic  incident 

5 


50  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

being  associated  with  her  involuntary  entrance  within  the 
convent-walls,  and  also  her  acknowledged  beauty  and 
strikingly  interesting  manners,  had  elicited  the  curiosity 
of  the  stranger.  An  English  bard  had  sung  her  praises, 
and  others  alluded  to  her  interest  of  person,  and  romantic 
story ;  and  one  of  our  own  countrymen,  in  the  romance 
and  benevolence  of  his  heart,  had  conceived  a  plan  for 
the  rescue  of  the  "  beautiful  nun,"  from  the  convent  of 
Santa  Clara,  where,  it  was  supposed,  she  was  retained,  an 
unwilling  prisoner,  through  the  caprice  of  ill-judging  pa- 
rents, and  intriguing  priests.  All  these  circumstances  con- 
tributed to  give  to  this  interesting  inmate  of  the  convent 
an  eclat,  unenviable,  perhaps,  to  one  of  the  order  of  the 
recluse,  but  flattering  to  that  love  of  admiration,  to  which 
the  young  and  beautiful  are  said  ever  to  be  given.  We 
therefore  were  much  gratified,  in  the  morning,  by  the  in- 
vitation of  Mr.  P.,  who  had  secured  from  his  friend,  the 
Vicar-General,  the  privilege  of  introducing  some  of  his 
friends  into  the  convent.  Such  an  incident  had  never  be- 
fore been  known.  And  we  had  only  dreamed  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  gaining  a  sight  of  the  nuns  through  the  double 
gratings,  while  we  should  be  purchasing,  for  their  interest, 
and  as  mementoes  of  our  visit  to  the  island,  some  artificial 
flowers,  being  the  exquisite  handiwork  of  the  inmates  of 
the  convent.  But  the  Bishop  is  said  to  be  something  of  a 
liberal  ;  and  at  any  rate,  on  this  occasion,  extended  to  the 
considerations  of  friendship,  a  favor,  of  which  we  were 
the  participants. 

We  had  returned  from  the  mount  church  in  time  to  pre- 
pare for  our  visit  to  the  convent  of  Santa  Clara ;  and  at 
a  little  past  four  o'clock,  agreeably  to  our  appointment, 
we  entered  the  outer  walls  of  the  convent  grounds.  The 
doors,  which  opened  from  the  court  into  the  sacred  enclo- 
sures, were  closed  ;  and  four  or  five  persons,  apparently 
on  the  same  unusual  errand  with  ourselves,  were  standing 
at  the  massive  doors,  awaiting  their  opening.  My  friend, 
who  had  accompanied  me  to  the  mount,  announced  in 
Portuguese  our  names,  at  the  whispering  window,  as  the 
friends  of  Mr.  P.,  and  was  answered  that  the  Senhor  was 
within,  and  we  should  have  immediate  admittance.  We 
walked  towards  the  large  doors,  which  opened  into  a  spa- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


51 


cious  and  covered  area,  from  which  the  passage-ways  led 
to  other  parts  of  the  buildings ;  and,  as  the  doors  turned 
back  on  their  heavy  hinges,  we  found  ourselves  at  once 
in  the  presence  of  ten  or  twelve  nuns,  in  their  holiday 
and  dark  habiliments,  some  giving  us  a  very  polite  wel- 
come, and  others  talking  with  their  friends  who  had  pre- 
ceded us.  My  friend  was  immediately  at  my  side,  after 
greeting  some  of  his  acquaintances  who  were  within,  and 
added — 


"  Here  is  Donna  Clementina  now,  of  whom  you  have 
spoken — allow  me  to  introduce  you  to  her."  - 


52  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

I  walked  with  him  into  the  presence  of  a  beautiful 
young  nun,  dressed  in  her  glossy  black  habito,  with  her 
veil  falling  gracefully  over  her  shoulders  from  her  silk 
head-dress,  which  was  so  adjusted  as  to  cover  the  top  of 
the  head,  and  terminate  in  a  graceful  point  upon  the  fore- 
head, without  concealing  the  beautiful  blond  of  her  hair, 
or  the  open  expression  of  her  brow. 

Various  circumstances  had  been  recited  to  me,  before 
I  had  left  the  frigate,  which  contributed  considerably  to 
diminish  my  interest  in  the  character  of  Maria  Clementina, 
the  name  of  the  beautiful  nun  alluded  to.  And  it  was 
supposed,  that,  at  this  time,  she  must  be,  at  least,  thirty 
years  of  age.  I  should  not  have  been  disappointed,  there- 
fore, if  I  had  found  an  ordinary  looking  nun,  once  cele- 
brated for  her  beauty,  but  whose  charms  of  person  had 
been  painted  in  colors  gaining  their  tints  from  the  in- 
tenser  hues  of  the  imagination  of  her  admirers,  who  only 
had  seen  her  through  double  gratings,  and  with  sympa- 
thy which  did  them  honor,  while  it  deceived  their 
discrimination.  But  before  me  now,  there  was  greater 
youth,  and  a  taller  and  more  symmetrical  figure,  and  a 
graceful  manner,  which  at  once  pleased  me,  and  made 
me  disposed  to  censure  some  criticisms  which  dissented 
from  the  general  admiration ;  and  some  free  remarks 
which  1  had  heard,  detracting  from  the  personal  character 
of  the  beautiful  Maria  Clementina.  I  was  agreeably  as- 
sured, as  I  stood  before  her,  that  she  was  a  just  object  of 
one's  admiration. 

I  said,  I  was  happy  to  meet  with  one,  of  whom  I  had 
heard  some  of  her  friends  speak  with  much  interest ;  and 
besides,  I  had  for  her  the  good  wishes  of  an  American 
lady,  from  whom  I  knew  she  would  be  pleased  to  hear. 

"  Ah  !"  said  the  pretty  Clementina,  "  I  remember  Mrs. 
R.,  and  hope  she  is  well." 

I  assured  her  that  she  was ;  and  an  olden  friend  of 
hers  was  lately  arrived  at  the  island.  The  frigate  and 
corvette  which  lay  in  the  offing  were  American  ships, 
commanded  by  Commodore  Read,  and  were  late  from  the 
United  States. 

"  Indeed  !"  again  continued  the  interesting  nun,  "  I  had 
not  heard  it." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  53 

I  replied  that  it  might  not  be  surprising,  as  the  inter- 
esting inmates  of  these  fair  grounds  were  not  always,  I 
supposed,  the  first  to  gain  the  news  of  the  world. 

What  were  the  musings  of  the  young  nun,  at  this  mo- 
ment, I  know  not ;  but  I  could  not  myself  perceive  that 
her  eye  kindled  with  that  interest,  which  I  had  anticipa- 
ted would  be  the  case  on  my  informing  her  of  the  welfare 
of  those,  whom  I  had  known  to  feel  an  interest  in  her 
welfare,  when  they  had  visited  the  island  some  few  years 
before  this  ;  and  for  whom,  from  various  circumstances,  I 
had  presumed  Maria  Clementina  cherished  a  very  partial 
friendship. 

Others  were  now  crowding  about  the  nun,  when  my 
friend  touched  my  arm  ;  and  accompanied  by  a  number 
of  other  nuns,  we  rambled  through  the  piazzas,  extending 
along  the  buildings  and  overlooking  the  gardens  ;  and 
threaded  the  different  halls  and  rooms  of  the  nunnery. 

"  Did  you  deliver  your  message  V  asked  my  friend, 
with  a  smile  slightly  playing  upon  his  lip. 

Yes,  I  told  him  ;  and  Clementina  is  certainly  prettier, 
and  more  youthful  in  her  appearance  than  I  anticipated  to 
find  her.  And  yet  she  did  not  seem  so  much  interested 
in  my  communication  as  I  expected  she  would  be. 

In  my  own  mind,  I  had  already  accounted  for  the  want 
of  animation,  which  I  had  expected  to  witness  in  Maria 
Clementina  at  the  moment  of  my  communicating  to  her 
the  intelligence,  which  I  had  presumed  would  be  greatly 
gratifying  to  her.  The  interesting  recluse,  doubtless,  I 
thought,  might  be  the  object  of  the  watchful  care  of  her 
elder  sisters,  as  she  would  be  the  centre  of  attraction  on 
this  occasion,  which  I  now  perceived  had  been  made  an 
opportunity  for  introducing  into  these  sacred  enclosures  a 
larger  number  of  friends  than  I  previously  anticipated  to 
meet  there. 

"  Why,"  said  my  friend,  with  another  smile,  "  I  told 
you,  on  our  way  to  the  convent,  that  Maria  Clementina 
did  not  speak  English,  and  I  supposed  you  would,  at  once, 
discover  the  deception." 

"  And  then  you  are  deceiving  me,  ay,  mon  cher  ?  And 
the  greatest  deception  is,  that  you  would  make  me  now 
believe  that  the  real  Clementina  is  not  Clementina's  self." 

5* 


54  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  No,  by  no  means,  I  assure  you.  I  will  point  out  to 
you  the  real  Maria  Clementina  when  we  find  her." 

My  friend  himself  had  not  seen  Clementina  for  two 
years  past,  and  never  only  through  the  speaking  grates, 
and  had  but  lately  returned  from  America.  My  own  im- 
pressions now  were,  that  for  some  reason,  it  was  a  policy 
in  the  inmates  of  the  convent,  knowing  that  a  number  of 
strangers  were  to  be  introduced  this  afternoon,  to  have 
one  of  their  younger  nuns  assume  the  character  of  Maria 
Clementina,  and  the  real  one  to  be  missing  ;  for  I  did  not 
know  otherwise  how  to  interpret  the  movements  of  my 
friend,  and  had,  at  this  time,  no  conception,  that  the  occa- 
sion would  admit  of  any  thing  more  nearly  bordering  on 
a  masquerade. 

We  proceeded  on  our  walk,  through  the  halls  and 
different  rooms,  all  perfectly  neat.  This  was  the  bed- 
chamber of  one  of  the  nuns ;  this,  of  another  ;  this,  of 
Genoveva  Caroleta ;  and  this,  in  which  I  was  willing 
longest  to  linger,  overlooked  the  far  extending  ocean, 
our  two  ships  at  anchor,  reposing  like  some  spirit-shapes 
on  the  bosom  of  the  blue  deep ;  and  directly  beneath, 
was  the  English  church,  with  its  loveliest  garden  of  flow- 
ers surrounding  it,  and  trees  embowered  in  flowers,  and  I 
thought  there  was  poetry  in  all  this,  and  that  there  ought 
to  be  religion  in  the  bosom  that  dwelled  here ;  and  the 
soft  tear  of  love  and  gratitude  should  fall  from  the  eye 
that  gazed  over  the  enchanting  scene,  to  the  delight  of  a 
devout  mind,  which  could  appreciate  the  loveliness  of 
the  character  of  that  Being,  who  made  all  these  beauties, 
that  they  might  delight  and  win  our  hearts  to  him.  But 
we  turned  our  gaze  from  this  lovely  point,  and  left  the 
room  so  delightfully  situated,  and  which,  like  most  of  the 
others,  was  hung  around  with  pictures ;  and  upon  each 
bed  was  one  tiny  pillow,  white  and  edged  with  ruffle, 
which  we  would  have  thought  most  suitable  for  the  toilet 
table  rather  than  the  fair  cheek  of  the  sleeping  nun. 

"  And  where  is  Maria  Clement'na  ?"  asked  my  friend, 
as  we  entered  other  rooms  from  another  hall,  where  two 
or  three  friends,  who  had  been  introduced  into  the  build- 
ings, like  ourselves,  were  seated  in  conversation  with 
some  of  the  nuns. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  55 

"  I  will  send  for  her,"  said  one  of  the  dark-clad  ladies, 
who,  with  others,  was  accompanying  us,  and  as  we  stepped 
into  yet  another  room. 

A  little  time  only  had  passed,  and  I  had  said  to  my 
friend,  You  are  not  designing  again  to  deceive  me  ? 

"  Most  certainly  not,"  was  his  reply,  which  now  seemed 
most  sincere ;  when,  the  next  moment,  the  nun  who  had 
volunteered  to  thread  a  number  of  the  passage-ways  to 
find  Maria  Clementina,  returned  again,  and,  to  my  utter 
astonishment,  and  I  have  reason  to  suppose,  to  the  no  little 
confusion  of  my  friend,  introduced  me  to  the  young  and 
fair  Clementina,  to  whom  he  had  made  me  acquainted,  on 
my  first  entrance  into  the  convent. 

1  could  only  advance,  and  repeat  the  assurances  of  my 
own  interest,  and  that  of  our  mutual  friends,  and  adding 
an  apology  for  the  desire  of  renewing  the  introduction,  as 
my  friend  here,  who  must  take  the  responsibility  of  the 
occasion,  assured  me  that  I  was  not  originally  introduced 
to  Maria  Clementina.  We  chatted  again  for  a  little  time, 
about  our  American  friends,  whom  she  had  seen,  and 
which  now  yet  more  confirmed  me  that  I  was,  in  reality, 
with  the  nun,  who  well  answered  the  description  which  I 
had  read  of  her,  during  the  morning  ;  and  now  we  passed 
through  yet  other  circuitous  passages,  and,  at  length,  joined 
the  crowd  on  the  piazza,  which  lead  quite  along  the  side 
of  the  spacious  buildings  which  front  the  inwalled  gar- 
dens of  the  convent.  A  number  of  nuns  and  their  friends 
had  gathered  here,  into  a  small  bastion  room,  which  opened 
from  two  of  its  sides  into  the  piazza,  which,  at  this  point, 
made  an  angle.  This  room  contained  an  altar,  hung 
with  pictures,  and  studded  with  the  brazen  candle-sticks, 
and  gilded  images,  characteristic  of  the  religion  of  the 
Catholics.  A  piano-forte  also  occupied  a  position  near 
the  altar.  The  nuns,  some  of  them  were  standing,  and 
others  sitting  upon  the  carpet,  all  at  perfect  ease  with  their 
company  ;  while  others  of  the  company,  in  considerable 
numbers,  were  gathered  on  the  piazzas,  near  the  two  doors 
of  the  small  room.  A  harp,  also,  stood  at  the  end  of  the 
piano-forte  ;  and  now  a  lady  in  full  and  rather  gaudy 
dress,  but  tasteful,  advanced  to  the  harp,  and  music  was 
expected.  A  young  nun  was  seated  at  the  piano-forte, 


56  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

who  seemed  to  me  more  youthful  still  than  the  Clementina, 
to  whom  I  had  been  introduced.  I  asked  Mr.  P.,  through 
whose  politeness  I  had  been  introduced  into  the  convent,  to 
whom  we  were  to  be  indebted  for  our  music  on  the  harp  ? 

"  It  was  his  wife." 

"  And  I  am  sure,  then,  you  should  be  a  musical  and 
happy  man,  sir." 

The  music  soon  awoke,  the  harp  and  the  piano-forte. 
It  was  a  sweet  quadrille,  vibrating  on  the  soft  air  of  Ma- 
deira, and  within  the  sacred  enclosures  of  the  convent  of 
Santa  Clara — the  orange  tree,  and  the  citron,  and  the  rose, 
and  the  geranium,  and  the  jasmine,  giving  forth  their  rich 
perfume  to  the  gentle  breath  of  evening,  which  was  borne 
in  zephyr-breeze  along  the  flower-enamelled  piazza,  alike 
to  meet  the  cheek  of  the  English  belle,  the  brunet  beauty 
of  the  Portuguese,  and  the  now  laughing  lip  of  the  happy 
nun,  clad  in  her  cloistered  and  flowing  habiliments,  and 
delighted  to  greet  within  their  own  enclosures  the  friends 
with  whom,  in  other  days,  she  had  only  conversed  through 
the  cold  barriers  of  unsocial  and  double  gratings. 

A  number  of  voluntaries  and  variations  were  played,  in 
good  taste.  A  young  Portuguese  sang  a  laughing  melo- 
dy ;  and  his  Portuguese  laugh  I  shall  never  forget.  It  will 
haunt  me  over  the  waters,  but  the  recollection  will  not 
be  disagreeable  among  remembered  symphonies,  as  some 
spell  of  darker  spirit,  which  mingled  unearthly  things  with 
sweet  harmonies  that  melted,  while  its  own  and  single 
notes  thrilled  with  the  awe  of  superstitious  forebodings. 

And  as  I  stood  beside  one  of  the  doors  of  the  small 
room,  now  principally  occupied  by  the  ladies,  listening  to 
the  music,  I  addressed  a  Portuguese  gentleman  at  my 
side,  in  the  absence  of  my  friend,  and  asked,  (for  I  was 
not  yet  fully  satisfied  as  to  my  having  seen  the  real  Ma- 
ria Clementina,)  who  was  the  young  nun,  sitting  in  front 
of  a  gentleman,  whom  I  now  designated. 

"  Nun,  Senhor !"  said  the  Portuguese,  "  I  do  not  see 
any  nun  in  that  direction." 

"  It  strikes  me,"  I  replied,  "  that  she  very  much  resem- 
bles the  other  young  nun  at  the  piano-forte,  with  blond 
hair  and  a  more  rosy  cheek." 

"  Oh,  sir,"  said  the  Portuguese,  looking  me  kindly  in 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  57 

the  face,  "  that  young  lady,  at  the  piano-forte,  is  Miss  P., 
the  daughter  of  the  lady  at  the  harp,  and  sister  to  the 
young  lady  you  take  for  a  nun  beside  the  gentleman. 
There  is  a  still  younger  daughter  near  us.  They  have 
only  put  on  the  habito  and  the  veil  of  the  nuns  for  this 
occasion." 

I  said  no  more,  and  at  once  comprehended  the  scene 
and  my  own  circumstances.  I  held  up  my  finger  rather 
menacingly  to  my  friend,  who,  however,  had  already  as- 
sured me  that  we  had  been  a  second  time  deceived.  He 
had  also  pointed  out  one  of  the  nuns,  as  she  had  quickly 
passed  us,  as  the  real  Maria  Clementina.  I  advanced  to 
Miss  P.,  and  assured  her  that  she  was  no  less  interesting 
in  her  own  proper  person  than  as  Donna  Clementina ; 
and  I  did  not  know  but  a  second  apology  was  due  her 
for  my  almost  inexcusable  blunders. 

The  young  lady  replied  that  she  was  Clementina  here, 
and  Miss  P.  at  home.  She  had  once  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  my  friend  Mrs.  R.,  wThen  she  was  at  the  island 
of  Madeira,  and  therefore  was  glad  to  hear  from  her ; 
and  supposed,  when  I  spoke  of  her,  that  I  was  aware  of 
their  slight  acquaintance. 

Some  moments  afterwards,  my  fair  and  interesting 
friend,  who  so  perfectly  graced  the  habito  and  the  veo  do 
fummo  of  the  Santa  Clara  nuns,  approached  me  and  said 
they  were  about  to  engage  in  a  little  dance,  and  would  I 
join  them  ? 

I  excused  myself,  by  saying  that  I  had  ceased,  for  some 
years,  to  dance,  and  she  must  pardon  me.  Indeed,  I  felt 
that  I  was  certainly  subjecting  myself  to  the  imputation 
of  the  want  of  proper  gallantry  when  adhering  to  what  I 
deemed — though  it  be  a  dissent  from  some  of  the  clergy 
of  the  English  church — in  my  own  case  to  be  propriety. 
The  dance  did  not  take  place  ;  and  I  thought  I  must  attri- 
bute the  failure  in  some  little  degree  to  the  fact  that  I  did 
not  consent  to  join  it.  It  certainly  would  have  exhibited 
an  interesting  scene — and  rather  an  unique  one  to  an 
American — nuns  and  priests,  and  the  gay  lip.  and  the 
bright  eye  of  young  and  happy  hearts,  mingling  in  the 
dance  within  the  supposed- to- be  impenetrable  and  sacred 
enclosures  of  a  religious  convent. 


58  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  music  was  repeated  before  we  left.  And  while  I 
was  conversing  with  a  group  of  Portuguese  gentlemen 
on  the  piazza,  a  gentleman  approached  me  and  desired  to 
know  if  I  were  from  the  United  States.  I  replied  that  I 
was.  He  had  lately  returned  from  America,  he  said,  by 
the  way  of  Europe.  There  was  an  American  lady  pres- 
ent, to  whom  he  would  introduce  me  if  I  would  allow 
him. 

I  was  happy  indeed  to  learn,  that  Mrs.  Abreo,  the 
young  wife  of  the  gentleman  who  was  addressing  me, 
had  just  reached  the  island  in  company  with  him,  by  the 
way  of  London.  She  is  a  niece  of  General  Van  N .,  a  fa- 
mily of  Washington,  at  whose  house  I  had  dined,  and 
with  some  members  of  whose  family  I  had  formed  a 
slight  acquaintance.  I  met  in  Mrs.  A.  a  young  and  pretty 
woman,  and  was  justly  happy  that  America 'would  have 
so  interesting  a  representative  of  the  sex  from  the  land  of 
my  home. 

During  my  interview  with  Mrs.  Abreo,  I  told  her  of 
my  adventure  with  Clementina,  the  young  and  interest- 
ing Miss  P.  She  smiled,  and  asked  if  I  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  real  Maria  Clementina.  Her  husband, 
she  added,  was  particularly  acquainted  with  her,  and  had 
known  her  from  her  youth,  and  would  introduce  me  to 
her.  He  did  so. 

There  was  now  no  longer  any  doubt  that  I  saw  the 
interesting  person,  who  had  awakened  so  much  interest 
in  other  days — whose  story  has  been  repeated  in  both 
hemispheres  for  its  romance ;  and  herself  deemed  the 
queen  of  all  that  is  lovely  in  person,  and  delicate  and 
elegant  in  manners  ;  and  she  had  not  yet  ceased  to  attract 
the  interest  and  consideration  of  the  stranger,  and  the 
continued  courtesies  of  older  friends.  When  I  mention- 
ed the  name  of  my  own  fair  countrywoman,  who  had 
left  a  just  impression  of  her  accomplishments  and  good- 
ness of  heart  in  the  island,  the  nun's  eye  lighted  up  with 
a  brilliancy  which  must  have  been  equal  to  her  fame 
when  she  was  some  years  younger.  She  talks  with  great 
vivacity,  and  seems  yet  to  be  the  favorite  of  those  who 
visit  the  convent.  She  speaks  French,  but  understands 
little  English ;  and  yet  she  seemed  to  comprehend,  with 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  59 

almost  the  quickness  of  intuition,  an  English  sentence,  if 
given  to  be  interpreted  to  her  in  Portuguese.  Her  manners 
were  easy  and  lady-like — far  more  soft  and  delicate  than  I 
had  been  led  to  judge,  from  the  description  of  one  who 
had  seen  her  during  the  revolution,  which,  for  a  period, 
opened  the  doors  of  the  convents  of  the  island.  Her  per- 
son is  slighter  than  most  of  her  sisters-recluse,  and  I 
should  think  taller ;  her  figure  and  features  partaking  of 
the  more  graceful  form,  (as  we  think  it,)  and  thinner,  clas- 
sic visage  of  an  American  lady.  She  spoke  of  our  ships ; 
of  the  great  kindness  of  Mrs.  R.,  and  inquired,  by  name, 
after  some  of  the  Americans  with  whom  she  had  met. 

When  I  parted  with  her,  in  company  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Abreo,  at  the  large  doors  opening  into  the  court 
without — Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  having  invited  me  to  accom- 
pany them  to  the  residence  of  their  friends,  where  they 
were  to  meet  a  small  collection  of  their  connections — I 
said  to  the  nun,  that  I  had  made  a  collection  of  artificial 
flowers,  which  Genoveva  Caroleta  had  in  her  care  for  me : 
would  she  add  a  bouquet  of  natural  ones  from  the  garden, 
from  which  I  might  press  a  few  to  take  with  me  to  Amer- 
ica? And  should  I  see  her  again  if  I  called  at  the  convent  ? 

She  replied  that  she  would  meet  me  at  the  speaking 
parlor,  if  I  should  call  again.  I  knew  that  there  would 
be  no  other  opportunity  of  entering  within  the  inner  walls 
of  the  convent. 

And  should  I  inquire  for  Santa  Maria  Clementina  ?  I 
added. 

"  No — no" — she  said,  as  she  cast  a  melancholy  look  in- 
to the  face  of  Mrs.  A.,  on  whose  arm  she  was  now  lean- 
ing. It  was  the  melancholy  of  a  Portuguese  eye,  which 
laughs  and  melts  in  floating  light  when  it  is  not  sad ;  and 
then  she  added,  "  I  am  not  yet  a  saint — inquire  for  Maria 
Clementina."  I  sought  not  to  interpret  that  look  of  sad- 
ness and  gentle  smile  of  feature,  that  seemed  to  say  that 
the  heart  wept. 

The  next  day  I  sent  for  my  flowers,  and  among  them 
was  another  artificial  bouquet,  more  beautiful  than  any 
which  I  had  selected,  with  the  signature,  in  her  own  fair 
handwriting,  tastefully  affixed  to  it,  "  Maria  Clementina." 

My  visit  to  the  convent  of  Santa  Clara  had  been  highly 


60  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

gratifying.  The  general  appearance  of  the  nuns  was 
happy.  In  their  persons  they  were  very  generally  in- 
clined to  embonpoint,  with  but  a  very  few  exceptions  out 
of  the  fifty-four  nuns  who  are  now  in  the  convent  of  San- 
ta Clara.  Maria  Clementina  is  an  interesting  exception. 
Genoveva  Caroleta  I  should  think  the  youngest  nun  in  the 
convent,  and  is  quite  pretty.  Her  person  and  features 
are  more  a  la  Portugaise,  than  her  further-famed  sister 
of  the  convent.  She,  also,  has  been  distinguished  for 
her  beauty,  and  merits  admiration.  Her  eye  (few  na- 
tions can  equal  the  Portuguese  in  the  general  beauty 
of  this  feature  of  their  women)  is  sweet  beyond  expres- 
sion, and  national.  The  Portuguese  eye  languishes  in  its 
smiles  of  light,  and  yet  has  nothing  of  the  glare  of  the 
dark  French  eye.  It  is  soft,  melting,  floating,  and  the 
light  that  beams  from  its  contrast  of  dark  and  purest 
white,  greets  you  in  vivacity,  and  sympathy,  and  sentiment, 
as  the  conversations  may  awaken  the  different  classes 
of  emotions.  You  would  think  it  easy  for  such  to 
weep,  while  the  tear  would  leave  the  eye  yet  undimmed, 
and  when  brushed  away,  its  smiling  light  would  greet  you 
as  before.  It  is  said,  and  I  have  thought  it  true,  that  dark 
eyes  have  only  one  expression,  though  always  bright.  It 
is  not  so  with  the  Portuguese  eye.  Genoveva's  is  large, 
soft,  laughing,  and  sentimental,  and  more  beautiful  as  a 
single  feature,  perhaps,  than  the  eye  of  her  fair  sister, 
and  her  other  features,  with  the  exception  of  her  double 
chin,  are  interesting.  She  is  more  purely  a  Portuguese 
beauty  than  Maria  Clementina,  who,  with  her  more  sym- 
metrical features,  possesses  also  a  more  engaging  and 
graceful  person. 

The  Santa  Clara  Convent,  I  understand,  is  well  endow- 
ed. But  no  accessions  can  be  made  to  the  number  of  its 
inmates;  and  when  the  present  nuns  shall  have  died,  the 
property  entailed  to  the  convent,  reverts  to  the  Govern- 
ment. 

The  Curral,  an  object  of  great  interest  to  the  stranger 
who  visits  the  island,  being  a  deep  and  fertile  ravine  of  the 
mountains,  which,  on  its  sides  and  its  valley  is  cultivated 
by  the  peasantry,  belongs  to  the  convent  of  Santa  Clara. 

At  the  convent,  on  the  afternoon  of  our  visit,  I  saw  but 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  61 

one  priest  besides  the  bishop  or  vicar-general.  The  bishop 
was  clad  in  usual  European  dress,  with  the  exception  of 
red  cuffs  to  his  coat,  and  scarlet  stockings,  worn  with 
short-clothes.  He  is  a  partisan  of  the  present  powers. 
The  favorer  of  Don  Miguel  was  exiled,  in  haste,  during 
the  last  revolution,  in  which  Don  Pedro  gained  the  supre- 
macy. 

BURIAL    GROUNDS    AND    BURIALS. 

The  day  succeeding  my  visit  to  the  convent  of  Santa 
Clara,  I  spent  in  company  with  a  gentleman  of  the  island 
and  one  of  our  officers,  visiting  different  objects  of  inter- 
est in  Funchal. 

The  English  burial  ground  was  one  of  these  objects  of 
interest.  Although  the  ground  is  small,  and  hemmed  in 
on  all  sides  by  buildings,  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  it  is  filled 
with  flowers ;  and  many  of  the  graves,  as  we  saw  them, 
were  marked  only  by  one  unbroken  cluster  of  fresh  and 
beautiful  rose-heads,  so  trimmed  and  arranged  as  to  form 
the  shape  of  a  monumental  mound.  The  avenues  were 
here,  as  in  almost  all  the  gardens,  lined  on  either  side  with 
hedges  of  geraniums.  But  it  was  an  emotion  of  deep  sad- 
ness which  awoke,  as  I  walked  along  the  flowery  paths 
of  this  lovely  little  cemetery.  It  was  youth  and  beauty, 
and  young  life  from  other  lands,  which  had  come  here  to 
prolong  its  career,  but  found,  in  this  isle  of  flowers,  an  early 
grave.  The  great  majority  of  the  stranger-sleepers  are 
under  the  age  of  twenty-five. 

"  The  good  die  first ; 

And  they  whose  hearts  are  dry  as  summer  dust, 
Burn  to  the  socket." 

I  paused  at  a  monument  in  relievo  in  the  wall,  with 
a  lovely  design  in  marble.  It  represented,  in  classic  chaste- 
ness,  a  female  figure  reclining,  in  contemplative  sadness, 
with  her  arms  resting  in  abstracted  grief  around  an  urn. 
It  marked  the  resting  spot  of  a  lovely  girl  of  16  years  of 
age,  from  Liverpool,  England.  She  sought  health,  like 
many  others,  but  returned  not  to  the  land  of  her  fathers. 
Her  name  was  "  Frances,"  and,  as  the  monument  said, 

6 


62  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  She  sleeps  in  Jesus.     Far  from  thee, 
Thy  kindred  and  their  graves  may  be ; 
But  thine  is  still  a  blessed  sleep, 
From  which  none  ever  wake  to  weep." 

"  Whom  the  gods  love  die  early,"  is  an  ancient  apho- 
rism, that  recurred  to  my  memory  as  I  turned  from  this  to 
a  neighboring  monument,  with  the  following  inscription : 

"  GEO.  FARISH." 

"Qu.etTrin.  Coll.  Cam." 

This  young  man  was  engaged  to  the  daughter  of  Legh 
Richmond.  They  were  married  but  a  few  days  before 
they  sailed  together  for  the  island  of  Madeira,  where  she 
left  him  entombed  among  the  roses,  which  die,  and  bloom 
again  when  spring  comes ;  but  the  sear  of  the  blighted 
heart  that  has  felt  the  frost  of  the  cold  hand  that  has  laid 
its  dearer  half  in  the  tomb,  knows  not  again  the  freshness 
of  its  young  verdure.  If  aught,  however,  can  render  soft 
the  heart  of  grief,  surely  it  must  murmur  its  faintest  and 
soft  moan,  while  winding  through  these  pro  fusions  of  flow- 
ers, geranium-hedges,  and  rose-embowered  monuments. 

Nearly  opposite,  a  few  steps  from  the  entrance  to  this 
repository  of  the  young,  the  loved,  and  the  beautiful,  is 
the  ground,  called  "  The  Strangers'  Burial  Place/'  It  is 
the  old  place  of  interment,  and  smaller  than  the  new  ground. 
There  was  a  time,  when  Papacy  reigned  in  its  greatest 
superstition  and  power,  that  the  Protestant  stranger  could 
find,  in  the  island,  no  place  for  the  repose  of  his  dust.  His 
body  was  thrown  into  the  sea.  Since  1770,  the  unchari- 
table and  cruel  prohibition  has  been  removed.  Within 
this  ground  is  the  trunk  of  a  large  orange-tree,  which  still 
gives  forth  its  few  branches.  It  is  some  twelve  or  more 
inches  in  diameter,  and  has  been  long  standing,  to  con- 
template the  solemn  advance  of  procession  after  procession 
to  deposit,  in  deep  and  lone  sleep,  friend  after  friend ;  and 
has  seen  the  tear  fall  from  the  eye  of  kindred,  and  heard 
the  low  moan  and  suppressed  sigh  of  widow  and  orphan, 
and  of  hearts  that  loved  with  sisters'  and  brothers'  love ; 
and  gave  to  them  all  the  most  impressive  of  all  sympathy, 
its  silence.  After  this  burial  ground  was  opened  for  the 
interment  of  strangers,  and  Madeira  had  become  the  resort 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  63 

of  invalids,  it  was  a  common  saying  among  the  Portuguese, 
when  observing  one  of  these  sorrowful  seekers  for  renew- 
ed health,  to  say, 

"  He  is  going  to  the  orange-tree." 

We  all,  in  this  life  of  change,  have  our  private  sorrows 
and  tearful  remembrances,  which  the  association  of  place 
or  time  or  circumstance  brings  up  to  the  mind's  review  and 
re-saddens  the  heart.  As  we  walked  among  these  graves, 
doubtless  our  thoughts  took  their  separate  course,  with 
some  private  reference  to  the  memories  of  each  one's  own 
kindred  dead.  I  envy  not  the  man  who  can  walk  through 
the  grave-yard  with  a  bosom  that  wakes  no  sigh,  and  with 
a  heart  that  never  declared  its  emotion  by  the  tribute  of  a 
tear.  And  there  are  moments  while  others  surround  us, 
in  which  we  were  never  more  alone.  The  friend  that  was 
with  me  I  saw  stand  at  the  flowery  mound  which  marked 
the  resting  place  of  his  early  companion.  For  myself,  the 
scene  around  me  had  in  it  much  to  recall  past  hours,  when 
the  currents  of  deep  wo  had  coursed  through  a  heart 
which  had  been  bereft  of  a  brother  next  older  than  myself, 
and  a  sister  next  younger ;  and  with  the  insinuating  and 
insidious  disease  which  had  borne  most  of  these  from  earth 
to  a  world  where  life  ends  not.  I  thought,  too,  how  I  had 
stood  beside  the  grave  of  that  brother,  who,  like  some  of 
these,  had  gone  far  from  his  home  to  southern  latitudes, 
in  search  of  health,  but  returned  no  more  to  the  embrace 
of  doting  friends.  Who  can  know  the  anguish  of  that 
heart  that  ceases  its  last  beat  among  strangers,  but  he 
who  has  left  the  home  he  loves  to  die  in  other  climes  ? 
And  who  but  such  can  realize  the  beauty  of  the  eastern 
blessing,  "  May  you  die  among  your  kindred  /"  But  the 
lone  hour  when  I  saw  a  brother's  grave  filling,  far  from 
kindred  and  home,  claimed  not  now  the  tenderest  thoughts, 
as  I  walked  through  the  home  of  these  young  consump- 
tives. It  was  at  midnight,  when  I  last  stood  beside  a  sis- 
ter's grave.  How  do  I  remember  it !  It  was  but  the  last 
night  before  I  left  my  home  for  my  distant  wanderings ;  and 
only  a  few  days  before,  that  sister  had  rested  in  my  arms 
as  she  breathed  her  last ;  and  almost  with  her  last  breath, 
conveyed  from  her  lips  her  farewell  kiss.  It  was  a  wintry 


64  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

grave  !  And  over  it,  unlike  the  flowers  that  covered  these, 
the  snow  had  thrown  its  robe  of  white,  which  I  then 
thought  so  emblematical  of  the  purity  of  her  beautiful 
character  and  lovely  piety.  Who  can  tell  the  hallowed- 
ness  of  a  sister's  love,  until  he  feels  its  absence  ?  Who 
ever  shed  a  holier  tear,  than  falls  upon  a  sister's  grave  ? 

The  same  friend  who  accompanied  us  to  the  English 
burial  ground,  was  kind  enough  to  call  upon  me  the  last 
day  I  was  on  shore,  to  say,  that  the  funeral  obsequies  of 
Donna  Senhora  Cabral  were  to  be  attended  that  afternoon, 
and  he  would  accompany  me  to  witness  a  Portuguese  bu- 
rial. This  lady  was  a  cousin  of  Count  Carvalhal,  lately 
deceased  himself,  who  was  deemed  the  wealthiest  fidalgo 
on  the  island,  if  not  the  richest  subject  of  the  king.  I  glad- 
ly availed  myself  of  the  invitation ;  but  by  mistaking  the 
church,  we  were  belated,  so  that  we  did  not  reach  the 
cathedral  in  time  to  witness  the  ceremony,  though  we  saw 
the  interment  of  the  body. 

The  ceremony  of  a  Portuguese  funeral,  however,  is  de- 
scribed to  be  (or,  at  least,  formerly  was)  much  as  follows. 
The  body  is  interred,  as  soon  as  twenty-four  hours  after 
the  decease.  It  is  borne  on  an  open  bier  to  the  place 
where  it  is  finally  to  be  deposited,  with  the  face  and  arms 
exposed,  and  attended  by  priest  and  friar,  chanting  a  fu- 
neral dirge.  The  friends  of  the  deceased  follow  next,  and 
the  line  of  the  procession  is  closed  by  a  motley  company 
of  beggars,  bearing  torch-lights.  With  the  body  a  quan- 
tity of  vinegar  and  lime  is  thrown  into  the  grave,  to  cause 
a  quicker  decay,  that  room  may  be  made  for  others. 
Their  churches  are  the  only  places  where  the  Catholics 
inter  their  dead,  and,  by  consequence,  the  space  for  these 
purposes  must  be  small.  The  relatives  of  the  deceased 
never  follow  the  departed  to  the  interment.  It  would  be 
deemed,  in  the  sentiment  of  a  Portuguese,  as  highly  im- 
proper ;  and  the  widow  of  the  departed,  in  the  higher  cir- 
cles, is  said  not  to  leave  her  house  for  twelve  months  after 
the  loss  of  her  husband. 

The  grave-men  were  adjusting  the  coffin  in  its  place 
of  skulls  when  we  reached  the  cathedral,  and  persons  who 
had  attended  the  ceremonies  were  all  retired  from  the  build- 
ing. The  excavation  had  been  made  beneath  the  floor  of 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  65 

one  of  the  small  rooms  or  chapels,  which  form  recesses 
from  the  main  part  of  the  church,  and  contain  each  an 
altar.  There  are  some  three  or  four  of  these  private 
chapels  with  their  altars,  in  this  collegiate  church  of  Saint 
Peter,  where  the  remains  of  this  lady  were  interred. 

The  place  of  interment  was  indeed  "  the  place  of  skulls," 
for,  in  digging  the  grave,  there  had  been  thrown  out  with 
the  earth  more  than  a  dozen  skulls  and  more  than  a  bushel 
of  bones,  which  we  perceived  lying  upon  the  consecrated 
dust,  now  placed  in  its  heap  upon  the  floor  of  the  recess  of 
the  altar.  And  as  we  looked  within  the  grave,  we  saw 
that  its  sides  were  nearly  lined  with  similar  emblems  of 
our  mortality  and  decay,  jutting  from  the  uneven  walls  of 
the  excavation.  How  many  slept  there  in  their  com- 
mingled dust ! 

Knowing  that  the  body  was  generally  exposed  before 
its  interment,  and  finding  ourselves  too  late  to  witness  the 
manner  of  its  attire,  my  friend,  in  Portuguese,  asked  the 
persons  who  were  yet  adjusting  the  coffin  in  its  place,  if  it 
were  admissible  to  open  it.  We  were  given  to  understand, 
that  if  we  would  give  them  money  it  should  be  done ;  and 
they  immediately  laid  the  lid  upon,  which  was  divided 
lengthwise  in  the  centre,  so  as  to  form  a  folding  lid,  on 
hinges.  The  sleeping  Donna,  unconscious  of  the  eyes 
which  gazed  not  irreverently,  but  with  pity  and  sorrow, 
lay  before  us,  robed  in  a  black  silk  dress,  and  lace  cap  and 
veil,  and  shoes  and  stockings.  The  coffin  was  of  common 
materials,  as  usual,  lined  inside  with  white,  and  outside 
with  black.  We  were  satisfied  when  we  had  lingered  a 
moment  over  this  sad  exhibition  of  the  last  end  of  mor- 
tality ;  when,  instead  of  immediately  reclosing  the  folding 
lid,  the  sexton  placed  the  veil  doubly  over  the  face  of  the 
sleeping  Donna,  and  shovelled  the  consecrated  dust,  min- 
gled with  the  dust  of  her  ancestry,  around  and  over  her 
face  and  body,  as  she  lay  within  the  coffin.  This  seemed 
like  cruelty  to  me,  but  my  friend  assured  me  that  it  was 
a  greater  honor  to  the  dead,  thus  to  fill  the  coffin  with  the 
hallowed  dust.  The  grave-men  then  reclosed  the  lid  and 
half  filled  the  grave,  when  they  took  the  skulls  and  many 
bones  and  replaced  them  in  the  excavation,  and  complet- 
ed the  task  before  them,  where  the  mingled  dust  of  the 

6* 


66  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

new-comer  would  rest,  until  another  claimant  for  a  place 
among  these  deep  reposers  should  again  lay  open  this 
crowded  home  of  the  dead. 

As  the  sexton  was  throwing  the  earth  into  the  coffin,  it 
was  asked  if  it  would  be  deemed  sacrilege  to  take  the  piece 
of  satin  riband,  attached  to  the  head-dress  of  the  uncon- 
scious Donna.  The  answer  was  immediately  given  to  the 
question  by  the  action  of  one  of  the  men,  as  he  severed  the 
riband  from  the  dress,  upon  which  my  friend,  as  he  folded 
it,  inscribed  with  his  pencil, 

"Donna  Senhora  Cabral,  died  and  interred  June  2d, 
1838 ;"  and  passed  it  to  me  as  a  memento  of  a  scene  so 
peculiar  and  solemn. 

We  left  the  grave  and  wandered  through  the  church, 
a  guide  being  at  my  elbow,  and  admitting  me  into  every 
recess.  As  I  was  about  leaving  the  church,  with  my  two 
companions,  I  perceived  a  priest  with  his  assistant,  (the 
latter  of  whom  was  standing  near  the  place  of  interment 
while  we  were  witnessing  the  covering  of  the  relics,)  in 
one  of  the  lesser  rooms  of  the  cathedral.  The  low  bow 
of  the  priest  invited  an  interview,  while  my  friends  were 
lingering  on  the  steps  of  the  cathedral.  The  priest  was 
exceedingly  urbane,  and  invited  rne  to  his  house.  Among 
other  things,  he  remarked  that  he  had  been  imprisoned  by 
Don  Miguel,  in  Lisbon,  but  under  the  present  regime,  he 
was  the  first  collegiate  priest  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter. 
He  gave  me  his  name  as  I  left  him,  much  regretting  that 
I  should  not  be  able  to  meet  him  again  that  I  might  gain 
various  information,  which  I  felt  assured  he  would  readily 
have  communicated,  and  which,  to  myself,  at  least,  would 
have  been  highly  interesting.  He  wrote  his  name  and 
titles  in  a  neat  and  legible  hand  on  a  paper,  which  he 
handed  me  in  exchange  for  my  card. 

An  interesting  daughter  of  the  lady  whose  funeral  obse- 
quies we  attended,  is  now  in  England.  There  is  interest 
connected  with  her  story.  In  her  association  with  some 
of  her  English  friends,  her  mind  became  interested  on  the 
subject  of  the  Protestant  creed.  She  saw  that  some  things 
in  her  own  faith  were  greatly  erroneous.  But  if  she  be- 
came a  Protestant,  she  would  lose  her  cast ;  and  the  trial 
of  one  placed  in  her  circumstances,  probably,  can  only  be 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  67 

known  by  those  who  have  been  similarly  situated.  Her 
English  friends  (how  judiciously  I  do  not  pretend  to  judge, 
but  with  Protestants  there  is  sometimes  need  of  more  char- 
ity than  they  exercise)  insisted  that  it  was  her  duty,  at 
once,  to  give  up  her  Catholic  creed  and  embrace  theirs. 
And  in  her  state  of  agitation,  still  believing  the  truth  of 
much  that  was  the  hereditary  religion  of  her  family,  and 
yet  perceiving  that  other  things  were  untenable,  and,  per- 
haps, injudiciously  pressed  by  her  Protestant  associates,  she 
became  much  excited,  and  for  a  period,  her  mind  lost  its 
balance  in  the  delirium  of  her  emotions,  through  ill-judged 
and  contrary  counsels  of  friends.  She  however  regained 
her  reason  ;  and  for  the  improvement  of  her  health,  or  for 
the  sake  of  accompanying  some  of  her  English  friends, 
she  is  now  visiting  England.  It  was  said  to  me,  by  the 
friend  who  narrated  these  circumstances,  that  the  mother, 
who  now  sleeps  so  low  and  lorn,  has  been  much  solicitous 
for  her  daughter  ;  and  that  this  anxiety  of  mind,  doubtless, 
has  contributed  to  hasten  the  sad  termination  of  the  mo- 
ther's life.  And  the  daughter — may  the  intelligence  be 
borne  gently  to  thine  ear,  and  the  support  which  heaven,  in 
its  sympathy,  alone  can  give,  yield  thee  the  consolations 
needed  for  early  orphanage.  Nought  but  thy  God  can 
meet  the  necessities  for  such  an  hour ;  and  his  friendship 
will  suffice  for  the  deepest  wo. 

THE    CURRAL. 

There  are  a  number  of  interesting  mountain  rides  out 
of  Funchal.  The  Curral  is  considered  one  of  the  chief 
lions  of  Madeira,  and  a  ride  to  this  deep  ravine,  so  desig- 
nated, is  a  matter  of  course  to  all  who  visit  the  island.  It 
is  distant  about  five  miles  from  the  city,  and  by  a  circuit- 
ous and  winding  ascent.  On  the  morning  fixed  upon  for 
the  excursion  from  the  ship,  seven  of  our  officers,  including 
myself,  took  their  places  in  one  of  the  ship's  cutters,  and 
were  early  conveyed  to  the  landing  at  the  Loo-fort.  Here 
we  found  horses  in  waiting,  from  which  the  gentlemen 
selected  each  his  trusty  steed,  while  I  despatched  a  man 
for  the  sure-footed  animal  which,  on  several  occasions,  I 
had  ridden,  and  now  preferred  for  his  known  speed,  ease, 


68  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  safety.  The  officers  had  mounted  and  were  on  their 
ascending  way,  with  the  exception  of  Professor  Belcher, 
who  delayed  a  few  moments  to  accompany  myself,  know- 
ing that  we  should  soon  overhaul  the  cavalcade,  which 
had  struck  forward  in  full  speed  and  loud  tramp  of  their 
horses'  hoofs  over  the  paved  and  narrow  passage  that  led 
to  the  mountain  through  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  and  occa- 
sionally by  a  quinta  situated  on  the  western  side  of  the  city. 
But  a  lew  moments  had  passed,  when  Antonio,  a  Portu- 
guese, who  had  before  served  me,  dashed  down  the  descent 
to  the  level  of  the  fort ;  and  with  his  amiable  smile,  which 
the  expectation  of  a  good  day's  bargain  rendered  even 
more  amiable,  led  forward  his  horse  for  me  to  mount,  and  at 
the  same  time  smoothing  his  hand  upon  the  well-groomed 
neck  of  the  animal,  added  with  great  confidence,  "  Caval 
American  mointebom" — a  very  fine  American  horse — 
which  I  had  already  proved  to  be  true.  We  were  but  a 
moment  behind  our  friends,  but  we  found  them  in  the  midst 
of  a  shower  of  mists,  which  had  reached  them  before  our- 
selves, and  in  which  we  now,  together,  advanced  along  the 
mountain-way.  The  principal  excitement  along  the  road 
arose  from  the  narrowness  of  the  track,  which  led  along 
the  mountain,  and  winding  around  jutting  peaks,  which 
looked  down  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  deep  below  ;  to  the 
bottom  of  which,  in  many  places,  both  horse  and  rider 
would  pitch,  if  the  animal  should  make  a  single  false  step. 
The  day  which  we  had  selected  for  our  visit  to  this  deep 
ravine  among  the  mountains  was  very  unfavorable ;  but 
it  was  the  only  one  we  could  expect  to  have.  It  is  often 
the  case,  and  was  thus  every  day  while  we  were  lying  off 
Funchal,  that  the  mountain  is  capped  with  clouds  which 
roll  half  way  down  the  aslant,  while  the  sun  is  shining 
within  the  city.  But  our  purpose  remained  unchanged, 
although  the  greatest  part  of  our  ride  to  the  mountain's 
highest  peaks,  was  through  showers  of  rain.  Occasionally 
the  sky  would  light  up,  as  the  mists  would  break  away, 
or  be  seen  sailing  in  horizontal  strata  along  the  high  sides 
of  the  deep  ravines  far  above  us  ;  while  we  were  winding 
along  the  narrow  path,  which  had  been  made  on  the  steep 
aslants.  These  appearances  of  the  clouds  themselves 
were  an  object  of  curiosity,  occasionally  opening  above 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  69 

US  and  exhibiting  a  deep  blue  vault,  through  the  fleecy 
vista ;  while  beneath  us  lay  vast  chasms,  on  the  sides  of 
which  our  passage  was  now  leading  to  the  mightiest  of 
these  mighty  openings,  which  exist  everywhere  through- 
out the  island. 

As  our  ride  was  early,  we  met  many  of  the  peasantry 
descending  from  their  mountain  homes,  with  various  arti- 
cles upon  their  heads,  which  they  were  bearing  to  the  city, 
as  the  fruits  of  their  toil  and  the  means  for  gaining,  in 
exchange,  a  string  of  fish  or  bag  of  minto,  or  other  article 
of  food  or  little  luxury.  Again  we  would  catch,  in  pictur- 
esque relief  on  some  far-off'  peak,  three  or  four  peasants, 
winding  along  their  private  paths,  their  diminutive  forms 
describing  themselves  in  outline  on  the  light  beyond  them. 
And  in  some  other  and  still  lower  positions,  with  a  chasm 
between  us,  we  now  and  ever  descried  the  shepherd  boys 
and  girls,  with  their  crook,  guarding  their  flocks  of  goats, 
or  more  generally  their  stock  of  a  small  and  beautiful 
breed  of  cattle,  feeding  on  the  green  herbage  that  coated 
the  steep  acclivities  everywhere.  The  constant  care  of 
the  peasant  is  needed  for  his  flock,  to  prevent  their  wan- 
dering down  declivities,  up  which  they  could  not  again 
ascend ;  and  to  keep  them  within  the  range  which  shall 
enable  them  to  direct  their  way  back  to  their  mountain 
shantees  before  night ;  for  every  step  here,  when  the  deep 
shades  of  the  ravines  have  spread  themselves,  would  be  the 
step  of  death,  as  it  launched  the  bewildered  straggler 
thousands  of  feet  below. 

Having  urged  on  our  course  by  the  narrow  path  that 
wound  along  the  sides  and  projecting  peaks  of  the  ravines, 
leading  up  and  still  up  the  steep  acclivities  at  angles  of 
ascent,  sometimes  so  great  as  to  make  it  appear  impossible 
to  rise  them,  and  which  the  horses  only  accomplished  by 
starting  upon  the  full  spring  before  they  reached  the  steep- 
est aslants,  we  finally  came,  and  suddenly,  upon  the  full 
view  of  the  deep  ravine,  which  constitutes  the  famous 
Curral  of  the  island  of  Madeira.  It  is  1600  feet  deep  from 
the  point  at  which  we  were  standing ;  and  the  dark  sides 
of  the  ravine  raise  their  sublime  bulwarks  until  they  are 
lost  in  the  clouds  yet  above  us.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine  runs  a  blue  foaming  current,  dashing  on  its  way, 


70  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  no  wider,  as  seen  from  the  elevated  position  at  which 
we  stood,  than  the  riband  on  a  lady's  hat.  A  chapel, 
occupied  by  a  solitary  monk,  is  situated  on  the  flats  below  ; 
and  the  day  after  our  visit,  two  officers  who  sought  the 
same  position,  spied  the  "  pilgrim's  flag"  flying  from  its 
walls,  as  an  invitation  for  the  strangers  to  descend  to  the 
bottom  of  the  ravine.  It  was  my  intention  to  have  done 
this  on  the  day  of  my  visit,  but  the  road  was  slippery,  and 
no  persuasion  nor  money  would  tempt  my  Antonio  to  allow 
his  horse  to  proceed.  We  therefore  ascended  on  foot  to 
a  high  peak,  which  gave  a  better  view  of  the  deep  below, 
and  of  the  length  of  the  ravine.  This  deep  hollow  in  the 
centre  of  the  island  is  deemed  to  be  an  extinct  crater  of 
a  volcano.  We  gazed  into  it,  and  marked  the  vineyards 
that  occupied  the  cultivated  grounds  around  the  solitary 
church  and  the  vine-clad  peaks,  and  everywhere  on  the 
sides  of  the  ravine.  The  blue  deep  was  seen  at  the  west, 
rolling  its  high  surges  far  off  at  sea ;  and  as  I  gazed  from 
this  elevated  point,  no  sound  was  heard  around,  nor  life, 
to-day,  could  be  seen,  and  nature  slept  in  her  sublime  soli- 
tude. A  single  bird,  true,  I  should  not  forget,  was  sailing 
over  the  far-down  depths,  careless  of  the  fearful  vacancy 
of  the  chasm  beneath  him  ;  and  higher  and  still  higher  he 
edged  up  his  flight,  by  the  graceful  slant  of  his  wide-spread 
wing,  until  he  scaled  above  us,  and  hung  in  mid-air,  over 
our  right,  when  he  was  finally  lost  in  the  clouds  that  rolled 
their  mists  above  us.  It  was  the  Manto ;  but  I  thought 
of  our  own  bird  of  our  own  republic,  that  looks  with  an 
undimmed  eye  on  the  sun ;  and  decks,  as  an  emblem  of 
elevated  bearing,  the  proud  flag  that  waves  over  America's 
fair  land  of  the  brave  and  the  free.  It  takes  but  trifles  to 
bear  back  to  one's  native  land  the  heart  that  loves  its  home. 
The  manto's  wing,  or  the  canary's  song,  or  music  from  the 
guitar's  string,  can  call  us  away  from  foreign  loves ;  and 
with  an  instant  spell  transport  us  from  isle  and  over  ocean, 
to  the  land  and  the  home  most  dear. 

Our  caterer,  who  accompanied  us,  mindful  of  the  effect 
of  a  ramble  and  a  ride  on  the  appetite  of  healthy  men,  had 
amply  provided  for  its  calls  in  the  contents  of  a  pouch, 
which  one  of  our  burroqueros,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
tail  of  the  horse  to  which  he  clung  on  our  steepest  ascents, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  71 

bore  to  the  Curral.  We  lunched ;  and  remounting  our 
horses,  were  on  our  return  again  ;  with  more  solicitude  in 
descending  the  declivities  than  we  had  experienced  when 
rising  their  steeps.  But  we  kept  on  our  way,  often  with 
great  speed,  and  to  the  no  little  excitement  of  some  of  the 
party  with  variable  nerves.  The  rains  had  rendered  the 
path  slippery  ;  and  when  we  were  half  way  on  our  return, 
and  descending  one  of  the  clayey  steeps,  my  eye  suddenly 
rested  on  a  horse  prostrate  in  the  path,  and  his  rider,  Lieu- 
tenant W.,  quite  composedly,  on  foot,  pursuing  his  way, 
ahead  of  him.  The  horse,  which  had  fallen,  and  which  I 
had  supposed  already  dead  from  the  position  in  which  he 
lay,  with  his  head  downwards,  soon  rose  again,  with  the 
burroquero  at  his  side.  Had  the  horse  fallen  thus  at  some 
other  points  of  the  road,  both  himself  and  the  rider  must 
have  launched  a  thousand  feet  into  the  deep  below. 
Instances  of  horses  pitching  from  the  narrow  path  have 
frequently  been  known,  but  the  riders  most  generally  have 
managed  to  escape,  before  the  horses  have  taken  their 
plunge.  A  gentleman  assured  me,  that  a  friend  of  his,  on 
the  same  route,  had  been  thrown  off  a  precipice,  of  fifteen 
feet  in  height;  but  the  ravine  bulging  out  at  this  point  below 
the  path,  saved  horse  and  rider  from  the  fearful  destruction 
that  would  otherwise  have  met  them  in  their  tumble  of  a 
thousand  feet  in  perpendicular  descent.  When  the  burro- 
quero, however,  had  regained  the  path,  he  seemed  to 
insist  upon  the  reinstatement  of  the  spirited  steed  to  the 
good  opinion  of  his  rider,  by  saying,  with  the  greatest  assu- 
rance, "  Very  good  horse,  master,  Mointebom,  killed  only 
two  men."  This  last  expression  may  be  a  little  like 
"  romancing?  to  use  an  expression  of  one  of  our  young 
gentlemen,  who  greatly  dislikes  over-coloring  in  descrip- 
tions ;  but  the  danger  is  not  inconsiderable,  to  any  one  who 
rides  over  this  passage  of  the  mountain,  to  the  Curral ;  and 
in  one  instance,  my  Antonio  seized  the  reins  of  my  horse, 
and  on  another  occasion  seemed  to  deem  me  too  adventu- 
rous. I  thought  of  the  remark,  that  the  oldest  sailors  are 
generally  the  most  timid  navigators,  as  they  are  aware  of 
the  real  dangers  that  may  be  encountered.  And  here, 
Antonio  loved  his  caval  American  mointebom,  and  was 
aware  of  the  danger  to  which  his  very  good  American 
horse  was  exposed. 


72  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

We  had  now  descended  to  the  foot  of  one  of  the  lesser 
ravines,  on  our  return.  The  other  officers  had  advanced 
some  distance,  while  I  lingered  a  moment  behind  them, 
as  they  passed  a  group  of  peasants,  beside  a  mountain- 
stream.  The  young  women  were  more  than  usually  neat 
in  their  attire,  and  seemed  as  pleased  with  the  costume  of 
the  officers  as  the  officers  were  interested  in  theirs.  I 
asked  the  peasants  if  they  could  give  me  a  drink  from  the 
pure  stream,  which  was  gurgling  most  refreshingly  over 
the  pebbles  and  through  the  green  yam-leaves,  at  this 
hour,  when  the  sun  again  made  his  appearance  with  his 
uncomfortable  heat,  as  we  were  reaching  the  lower  posi- 
tions of  the  mountain.  These  mountain-nymphs  seemed 
somewhat  in  a  dilemma  at  first,  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  they  should  meet  my  request ;  but  a  woman  for- 
ever, when  a  dilemma  is  to  be  relieved.  One  of  the 
peasant  girls  flew  up  a  path,  to  a  small  patch  of  yams, 
and  plucked  a  large  leaf,  and  in  a  moment  was  at  the 
little  streamlet  again  ;  and  with  a  twist  of  the  leaf  formed 
a  leaf-cup.  Dipping  it  in  the  stream,  she  presented  it  to 
my  lip,  to  the  very  considerable  amusement  of  herself  and 
the  laughing  group,  while  I  sipped  the  limpid  water  from 
the  extempore  cup  of  the  yarn-leaf.  I  knew  that  a  Por- 
tuguese peasant  was  ever  ready  to  receive  a  compensation 
for  every  little  favor,  and  I  dropped  a  silver  piece  into 
her  hand,  and  started  my  horse  again  on  his  way ;  but 
the  sight  of  the  money  gave  motion  to  the  whole  group 
after  me.  As  a  matter  of  amusement,  I  scattered  my 
small  pieces  of  coin  along  the  path,  desiring  to  observe 
the  peculiarities  of  these  mountaineers;  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments more,  although  1  kopt  my  horse  in  a  trot,  the  group 
of  boys  and  girls  was  cvt-ry  half  minute  augmented,  until 
I  had  quite  a  small  squadron  crying  after  me  in  most  per- 
suasive tones  of  voice,  and  putting  forth  the  utmost 
strength  of  limb  to  reach  me,  as  I  occasionally  held  taught 
the  rein  of  my  horse  and  suffered  the  augmenting  troop 
to  come  up.  "  For  sua  suade,"  exclaimed  the  foremost 
boy,  who  had  already  gotten  his  portion,  and  had  advanced 
as  near  as  my  threatening  stick  would  allow  him,  "  for 
the  sake  of  your  salvation,"  with  his  hands  in  the  most 
entreating  attitude ;  and  soon  the  rest  would  hasten  forward 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  73 

for  an  additional  supply.  Importunate  from  the  encourage- 
ment they  had  already  met  with,  as  I  attempted  to  increase 
the  speed  of  my  horse,  the  largest  boy  succeeded  in  seiz- 
ing the  reins  of  the  animal,  and  one  further  retrograde  step 
would  have  landed  myself  and  horse  in  the  deep  below. 
I  raised  gny  whip,  and  the  boy  dropped  the  reins  ;  and  I 
avoided  another  pause  until  I  had  reached  a  part  of  the 
path  where  there  was  a  wider  space,  when  I  once  more 
suffered  the  still  increasing  number  to  come  up  with  me, 
and  scattered  among  them  all  the  small  change  I  possessed, 
and  soon  regained  my  associates  in  the  advance. 

Throughout  the  city  of  Funchal,  and  along  every  road, 
the  children  of  the  lower  classes,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, ask  you  "  por  sua  suade,"  for  alms ;  and  if  you  pass 
them  unanswered,  and  a  group  happen  to  be  near,  a  gen- 
eral smile  awakes  upon  their  young  faces,  which  are  sad, 
and  only  then  fictitiously,  when  they  seek  for  a  donation. 
Formerly,  before  the  Franciscans  were  exiled,  there  wer-e 
a  vast  number  of  beggars  in  the  island.  Now  very  few 
are  seen,  and  only  among  the  children.  But  there  seems 
to  be  not  the  least  sense  of  shame  or  degradation  con- 
nected with  their  petition  for  alms. 

The  peasantry  of  the  island  appear  to  be,  comparatively, 
a  happy  people.  They  cultivate  the  land,  and  give  the 
proprietor  one  half  the  produce,  liberally  dividing  the  va- 
rious articles  they  raise,  even  to  the  head  of  a  cabbage. 
From  the  mountains  they  also  gather  billits  of  wood,  and 
bundles  of  flowering  broom,  which,  when  dry,  answers 
for  oven  wood.  They  receive  from  nine  to  eighteen  cents 
for  the  quantity  they  can  carry  upon  their  heads.  One 
half  of  this  goes  to  the  proprietor,  from  whose  land  the 
material  is  gathered.  The  same  division  takes  place  in 
the  grapes,  vegetables,  poultry,  and  the  flocks  of  goats 
and  sheep,  and  herds  of  cattle.  The  peasant  who  occu- 
pies the  land  on  these  conditions,  leaves  his  title  to  his 
children,  who  cultivate  the  soil  on  the  same  condition  as 
the  father  before  them. 

We  returned  in  safety  to  the  ship,  regretting  that  the 
day  had  not  been  more  favorable  for  our  ride  and  obser- 
vation, and  particularly,  that  we  could  not  descend  to 
the  bottom  of  the  Curral.  But  the  passage  along  the 

7 


74  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ravines,  ascending  to  the  point  where  we  gazed  into  this 
deepest  chasm  of  the  mountains,  and  the  grand  scenery 
beneath,  and  above,  and  around  us — of  high  peak  and 
fearful  slant — of  far  off  and  blue  ocean — of  cloud,  sailing 
but  half  way  up  the  sublime  mountain-sides — here,  deep 
green  and  clad  in  vines,  and  there,  dark  brown  in  its 
rough  pumice-stone  or  basalt,  and  jets  of  water  spout- 
ing from  its  wide  area,  and  lining  its  way,  like  a  silver 
stream  floating  on  a  dark  ground  to  the  bottom  of  the  cra- 
ter, or  to  mingle  its  bright  line  in  the  Ribeiro  do  Curral — 
all,  with  the  peasantry  in  their  mountain  fastnesses,  con- 
stitute elements  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sublime,  the  rural, 
the  picturesque,  and  the  novel,  which,  in  their  combina- 
tion, produce  a  picture  that  will  ever  appear  unique  for 
its  singularity,  grand  for  the  prevalence  of  the  vast,  and 
pleasingly  exciting  for  the  blending  of  so  much  beauty 
with  the  fearful. 


VARIOUS    PRIVATE    RESIDENCES. 

The  grounds  of  Count  Carvalhal,  lately  deceased,  the  rich 
fidalgo  of  the  island,  and  deemed  one  of  the  wealthiest 
subjects  of  the  Portuguese  king,  are  deemed  an  object  of 
curiosity  to  the  visiter  of  Funchal.  His  situation,  called 
Palherio,  is  on  the  east  of  the  city.  We  rode  to  it  in  the 
afternoon.  The  late  proprietor  left  his  large  estates  in- 
volved in  dispute  among  his  heirs.  He  is  spoken  of  as 
having  been  a  man  of  great  interest  of  character  in  his 
liberal  contributions  for  every  public  improvement ;  and 
his  own  grounds  exhibit  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  taste. 
His  domain  is  set  out  with  forest  trees,  forming  wide 
avenues  of  oaks,  firs,  chestnut,  in  imitation  of  an  English 
park.  The  double  Camilla  grows  here  in  rich  perfection, 
and  exists  in  immense  hedges.  The  tree  reaches  six  to 
eight  feet  in  height,  and  the  flower,  in  its  white  and  red, 
more  nearly  becomes  the  rival  of  the  rose,  than  any 
other  shrub  of  which  the  queen  of  flowers  could  be 
jealous.  The  perfume  of  the  rose  is  wanting,  but  the 
ever-green  leaf  of  the  tree,  with  its  polished  luxuriance, 
has  altogether  its  superiority  over  the  rose.  We  regret- 
ted that  the  shrub  wras  not  in  blossom. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  75 

In  a  ramble  which  I  took  alone  and  at  random,  the 
evening  preceding  the  one  we  were  to  leave  the  island,  I 
entered  the  grounds  of  Palmyra,  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  quintas  on  the  island.  It  is  a  lovely  spot. 
The  courtesy  of  Mr.  O.  invited  me  to  the  house,  after 
having  with  much  politeness  accompanied  me  through 
the  grounds.  The.  interview  with  himself  and  sister  is 
remembered  with  pleasure.  Miss  O.  spoke  of  the  works 
of  the  Abbots  with  interest ;  and  her  taste  made  her  com- 
mendation of  these  American  productions  a  matter  of 
gratification  to  myself.  Mr.  O.,  a  genteel  young  gentle- 
man, visited  our  ship  the  next  day,  and  I  was  pleased 
with  the  opportunity  of  reciprocating  his  courtesy. 

At  the  Til,  another  quinta,  we  looked  with  interest 
upon  a  large  bath  in  the  centre  of  the  buildings,  supplied 
with  water  from  the  mountains,  as  being  the  reservoir  in 
which  Captain  Canning  of  the  Royal  Navy,  son  of  the 
late  Prime  Minister  of  England,  was  drowned.  He  had 
proposed  to  bathe  previous  to  breakfast,  and  delaying 
longer  than  was  expected,  was  sent  for.  His  clothes 
lying  by  the  side  of  the  bath,  and  his  person  being  un- 
seen, declared  the  melancholy  catastrophe. 

Having  spent  the  evening  with  Mr.  A.,  at  his  friend's, 
I  left  at  a  late  hour  their  residence,  for  the  American 
Consul's.  It  was  quite  dark  in  the  narrow  streets  of 
Funchal,  through  several  of  which  I  was  to  pass.  The 
servant  was  furnished  with  torches,  formed  of  pitch  and 
broom,  which  quite  lighted  up  the  narrow  street,  and 
made  our  course  through  the  dark  passes  striking  and 
characteristic.  As  we  were  thus  seeking  the  residence 
of  the  Consul,  we  passed  a  lady,  borne  in  a  palanquin. 
The  two  men  who  moved  forward  with  this  comfortable 
conveyance,  also  bore  their  lighted  torches.  The  vivid 
glare  of  the  meeting  lights  rendered  each  party  distinct  to 
the  view  of  the  other ;  and  with  a  salutation,  we  each  con- 
tinued our  glaring  way  through  the  dark  streets,  over 
which  night,  with  her  sablest  wing,  seemed  at  this  hour 
to  hover. 

The  palanquin  is  a  kind  of  sedan,  attached  by  cords, 
at  each  end,  to  a  long  pole,  which  rests  on  the  shoulders 
of  two  athletic  Portuguese  peasants.  The  lady  places  her- 


76  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

self  on  a  seat,  or  reclines  as  she  chooses  ;  and  if  she  please, 
she  draws  a  curtain,  which  is  thrown  over  the  pole,  so  that  it 
may  entirely  conceal  her  person  within,  or  only  partially, 
so  as  to  defend  from  the  sun  or  rain,  while  the  passers-by 
and  the  lady  may  recognise  each  other.  When  crossing 
the  mountains  or  performing  any  distance  from  Funchal, 
a  hammock  is  slung  to  the  pole  instead  of  the  palanquin, 
being  more  convenient  both  for  the  person  carried,  and 
those  who  bear  the  traveller.  The  facility  and  strength 
which  the  peasantry  manifest  in  ascending  the  mountains 
with  such  a  burden,  is  surprising.  The  peasantry  are  a 
hardy  race,  and  perfectly  courteous.  Their  ease  in  salut- 
ing the  stranger  would  do  credit  to  men  who  pride  them- 
selves on  much  better  breeding.  They  wear  a  small  cap 
upon  their  head,  terminating  in  a  peak.  Their  trousers 
are  gathered  tight  below  the  knee,  leaving  the  calf  of  the 
leg  and  foot  bare,  unless  a  boot  of  goat-skin  decorates  the 
lower  part  of  the  limb.  A  jacket  and  shirt  complete  the 
dress.  The  peasant  women  wear  a  short  petticoat,  a 
bodice,  and  a  shawl,  with  a  cap  of  blue  broadcloth  lined 
with  red,  similar  to  the  men's.  The  cloth  from  which  they 
usually  make  their  garments,  is  a  homespun  linen.  The 
frock  or  petticoat  of  the  women  is  sometimes  a  striped 
material  of  yellow  and  red.  The  peasants  invariably 
salute  the  stranger,  by  raising  the  cap,  and  the  men  never 
pass  a  peasant  woman  of  their  own  class,  without  doing 
the  same.  On  our  way  to  the  Curral,  we  passed  not  a 
single  peasant  who  did  not  make  this  courteous  demonstra- 
tion of  his  polite  and  easy  manners. 

The  stranger  will  be  struck  and  pleased  with  the  mark* 
<M'  case  and  courtesy  of  the  Portuguese  at  Madeira,  in  its 
society  of  every  grade.  The  higher  orders  of  the  Portu- 
guese and  English  society  are  a  good  deal  distinct.  I  know 
not  that  there  are  any  jealousies  existing  between  them. 
But  I  should  attribute  the  circumstance  to  the  fact,  that 
the  English  families  are  sufficient  in  number  to  form  a  so- 
ciety of  their  own,  and  but  few  Portuguese  women  speak 
the  English  with  ease ;  nor  are  there  many  English 
women  who  readily  converse  in  the  Portuguese  language. 
The  gentlemen,  however,  more  generally,  speak  the  two 
languages  of  the  island. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  77 

On  our  arrival  at  Madeira,  among  other  vessels,  we 
found  an  English  yacht.  It  has  excited  some  interest  from 
the  circumstance  that  a  lady  commands  it,  who  is  thus 
seeking  her  health  upon  the  billow.  She  is  the  wife  of 
Col.  H.  Her  story,  as  given  by  herself,  is,  that  her  hus- 
band had  purchased  and  fitted  up  the  boat,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  accompanying  his  wife  to  sea.  But  on  the  eve  of 
their  sailing,  he  was  promoted  to  a  command  in  the  Guards, 
which  was  deemed  a  matter  of  sufficient  interest  to  the 
husband,  to  decide  him  not  to  accompany  his  lady  on 
the  proposed  voyage.  The  alternative  was,  that  his  wife 
must  remain  at  home,  or  consult  her  health  by  entering  on 
her  course,  unattended  by  her  husband,  to  the  latitudes  re- 
commended. She  did  not  hesitate,  however  singular  it 
might  be  deemed  by  the  world,  to  give  her  health  the  first 
consideration,  according  to  their  original  plan.  With  her 
servant,  pilot  and  crew,  she  has  consequently  been  pursu* 
ing  her  track  on  the  ocean.  She  dares 

"  The  wild  raging  sea," 

with  all  the  composure  of  a  rear-admiral,  and  daily  unfolds 
her  sails  to  the  evening  breeze,  and  dashes  out  into  the 
offing  over  the  blue  surges,  in  her  beautiful  little  bark, 
bounding  upon  the  sea-billow  as  light  and  securely  as  a 
swan,  rippled  on  the  waves  of  a  home-stream. 

She  passed  under  the  stern  of  the  Columbia  this  even- 
ing, while  her  band  was  playing  "  Yankee-doodle,"  and 
her  crew,  composed  of  some  seven  or  eight  in  number, 
were  dancing  on  the  deck,  in  tip-toe  glee,  to  our  national 
air.  Mrs.  H.  was  sitting  in  her  usual  place  on  the  quarter- 
deck, with  a  young  friend  lounging  comfortably  near  her, 
and  her  pilot  standing  near  the  steersman  to  guide  the 
bark.  Our  officer  of  the  deck  touched  his  cap  as  the  yacht 
glided  by  ;  and  laughingly  said,  as  he  took  his  seat  at  the 
tea-table  a  few  moments  since,  "  I  was  about  to  call  you  to 
witness  a  scene,  but  was  rather  too  busy  just  at  the  moment." 
The  particulars  above  we  knew,  having  heard  the  music 
of  the  yacht  as  she  passed.  The  Lieutenant,  who  has  a 
nice  perception  both  of  fitness  and  the  ridiculous,  continued, 
"  I  thought  our  band  was  rather  too  small  in  its  numerical 
constitution  to  return  the  compliment,  and  being  just  ready 

7* 


78 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


to  send  down  the  royal  yards,  the  music  beat  the  call,  and 
away  came  the  pennant,  ensign,  and  royal  yards ;  and  as 
the  yacht  rounded  about  the  frigate's  bow,  we  rolled  off 
in  fine  style."  A  very  clever  thing,  was  the  response, 
with  a  simultaneous  peal  of  approbation  from  the  mess. 

A    LEGEND    OF    THE    MADEIRAS. 

There  is  a  pretty  legend  connected  with  the  first  dis- 
covery of  Madeira,  if  I  may  so  call  a  romantic  narrative, 
which  has  been  embodied,  as  dignified  history,  in  the  wri- 
tings of  Cadeyro,  who  is  considered  by  the  Portuguese 
one  of  their  historians  of  the  first  rank.  The  incident  is 
laid  in  the  times  of  Edward  III.  of  England  and  Don  John 
the  First  of  Portugal. 

An  English  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Robert  Machin 
became  attached  to  a  youn^  lady  of  noble  family,  by  the 
name  of  Anna  D'Arfet.  Her  beauty,  accomplishments, 
and  endowments,  of  course,  were  equal  to  her  birth,  and 
her  fortune  large.  She  reciprocated  the  attachment  of 
Machin ;  but  on  account  of  the  superiority  of  the  lady's 
family,  the  parents  forbade  the  union  of  the  two  lovers. 
To  prevent  the  consummation  of  the  desires  of  Anna 
D'Arfet  and  Robert  Machin — as  the  young  heroine  thought 
virtue  and  noble  qualities  of  more  value  than  antiquity  or 
elevation  of  family — the  parents  compelled  their  daughter 
to  accept  the  offers  of  a  nobleman  of  distinction,  who  was, 
however,  the  object  of  her  great  aversion.  And  to  render 
the  wishes  of  the  parents  and  the  noble  lord  more  certain 
of  accomplishment,  a  warrant  was  obtained  from  the  king, 
on  some  pretext,  by  which  Machin  was  retained  in  prison 
until  after  the  celebration  of  the  nuptials  between  Anna 
D'Arfet  and  the  noble  suitor.  The  bride  was  immediately 
conveyed,  by  her  husband, toone  of  his  country  estates,  near 
Bristol,  where  she  became  the  inmate  of  a  strong  castle. 
It  being  supposed  that  the  lady  was  now  successfully 
secured  from  forming  a  connection,  which  her  friends 
deemed  would  have  been  dishonorable  to  the  dignity  of 
their  family,  Machin  was  suffered  to  leave  his  prison. 
But  the  lover,  on  hearing  the  intelligence  of  the  marriage, 
first  gave  himself  up  to  despair ;  then,  impelled  by  rage 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  79 

and  revenge,  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  rescue  the  ob- 
ject of  his  love  from  a  position  he  had  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve to  be  a  state  of  extreme  wretchedness  to  her,  and  to 
which  she  had  been  reduced  by  acts  of  the  greatest  cruel- 
ty. He  had  his  friends,  who  all  pledged  their  devotion 
for  executing  his  plans.  He  sought  her  castle — communi- 
cated, by  stratagem,  his  presence  and  purposes,  if  she 
would  consent  to  accompany  him — and  having  a  small 
vessel  already  manned,  he  gained  her  consent ;  and  the 
lovers  were  soon  together  in  their  bark,  making  their  way, 
as  they  supposed,  successfully  to  the  coast  of  France. 
But  the  winds  arising,  they  were  driven  far  out  to  sea ; 
and  bewildered,  as  they  had  no  experienced  pilot  on  board, 
they  missed  their  intended  port ;  and  when  nearly  ex- 
hausted and  hopeless,  after  being  thirteen  days  at  sea, 
they  descried  a  dark  object  looming  in  the  distance,  which, 
as  the  sun  broke  clearly  upon  it  in  their  nearer  approach, 
they  discovered,  to  their  inexpressible  relief,  to  be  land. 
As  they  neared  the  high  bluffs,  the  land  presented  the  beau- 
tiful appearance  of  green  luxuriance ;  and  birds,  with  white 
and  yellow  plumage,  lighted  upon  their  vessel.  And  yet, 
while  I  was  on  the  island,  a  single  canary  and  a  solitary 
manto,  were  the  only  two  birds  which  met  my  eye,  in 
my  different  rides  and  rambles.  But  the  age  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  of  Anna  D'Arfet  and  Robert  Machin, 
were  days  of  adventure,  and  love,  and  beautiful  birds. 
The  sea  was  tranquil,  as  they  came  still  nearer  the  island, 
and  before  them  was  exhibited  a  scene  of  enchantment. 

The  boat  was  launched,  and  the  party  examined  the 
point  which  had  attracted  their  attention  for  its  beauty. 
The  report  of  the  boat's  crew  was  so  favorable  as  to  lead 
the  distressed  lovers  to  hope  that  they  had,  at  least  for  a 
time,  obtained  a  haven  of  repose,  refreshment,  and  secu- 
rity. Fruits  of  various  kinds,  indigenous  to  the  island,  met 
their  eye  and  gratified  their  taste ;  and  the  honey  found 
in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  possessed  the  flavor  of  violets. 
The  trees  were  immense  ;  and  the  forests,  undisturbed  in 
the  quiet  of  unrecorded  years,  displayed  their  verdant 
and  massive  canopies  of  foliage.  This  may  not  be  im- 
probable, though  the  island  now  is  almost  entirely  desti- 
tute of  forest  trees.  I  saw  the  trunk  of  one  of  the  old 


80  A  VOYAGE  AROUXD  THE  WORLD. 

monarchs  of  the  isle,  measuring  more  than  thirty  feet  in 
circumference,  which  still  lingered  in  its  leafless  dignity, 
in  the  grounds  of  the  Til. 

Machin  and  Anna  D'Arfet,  with  some  of  their  follow- 
ers, left  the  ship,  and  landed  at  the  spot  which  had  attract- 
ed their  gaze  for  its  loveliness,  and  where  they  were  anti- 
cipating that  they  should  enjoy  the  delights  of  security,  as 
they  calmed  their  minds,  after  the  perils  of  the  tempestuous 
voyage.  But  their  peace  was  destined  not  long  to  con- 
tinue. A  storm  was  borne  over  the  ocean ;  and  the  ill- 
anchored  vessel,  which,  under  any  circumstances  of  moor- 
ing, could  hardly  have  withstood  the  rolling  of  the  open 
roadstead,  was  forced  to  put  to  sea,  while  nothing  of  ne- 
cessity or  accommodation  had  been  conveyed  from  the 
vessel  to  the  shore.  The  vessel,  at  length,  was  lost  to  the 
anxious  gazers  on  the  shore.  The  shock  of  this  new  cala- 
mity overpowered  the  already  prostrated  system  of  the 
young  sufferer,  and  her  form  sunk  beneath  the  pressure  of 
her  dejected  spirits  and  increasing  misfortunes.  The 
spirit  of  the  lovely  Anna  D'Arfet  could  no  longer  support 
the  multiplied  distresses  of  her  situation,  and  in  a  few 
days  she  expired,  in  the  arms  of  her  devoted  and  distract- 
ed lover. 

Aware  that  he  could  but  a  little  while  survive  the  loss, 
which  had  thus  overwhelmed  him  and  made  life  to  him  of 
no  longer  desire,  Machin  spent  the  few  succeeding  days 
in  erecting  a  memorial,  to  perpetuate  the  story  of  the 
fidelity,  the  affection,  and  the  misfortunes  of  their  loves. 
And  as  he  was  breathing  almost  his  last  respiration,  he 
entreated  his  followers,  that  his  own  remains  might  be  in- 
terred in  the  bosom  of  the  same  grave  with  his  beloved 
Anna.  The  request  of  Machin  was  religiously  complied 
with,  and  the  bodies  of  the  lovers  slept  together  at  the 
foot  of  an  erected  altar,  beneath  the  overhanging  boughs 
of  a  wide-spreading  tree,  against  the  stupendous  stem  of 
which  a  cedar  cross  was  placed,  which  seems  to  have 
been  venerated  in  the  changes  of  time,  as  it  yet  occupies 
its  original  position,  to  awaken  the  sympathy  of  the  passer- 
by, while  he  reads  the  story  of  Robert  Machin  and  Anna 
D'Arfet.  Thus  terminated  the  sad  tale  of  these  two  un- 
fortunate lovers.  And  thus,  and 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  81 

"  Far  from  their  own,  their  native  land  they  slept ; 
No  pitying  kindred  o'er  their  relics  wept ! 
Madeira's  earth  enshrined  the  hapless  pair, 
The  first  who  lived,  who  loved,  who  perished  there." 

On  the  memorial,  however,  which  Machin  had  left  to 
perpetuate  the  affecting  tale  of  his  own  and  his  loved 
one's  fate,  was  a  request  that  if,  at  any  future  period,  a 
colony  should  be  planted  upon  the  island  by  Christians, 
they  would  erect  on  the  spot  a  church,  to  be  consecrated 
to  the  Redeemer  of  mankind.  The  pious  request  of  the 
dying  lover  has  been  complied  with  ;  and  a  church,  dedi- 
cated as  desired,  now  occupies  the  memorable  spot. 

After  the  death  of  their  leader,  the  distressed  followers 
of  Machin  left  the  island,  whether  in  the  boat  which  they 
had  preserved,  or  in  a  larger  craft  which  they  construct- 
ed for  the  purpose,  is  not  said ;  and  they  made  the  Afri- 
can coast,  which  lies  about  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
island  of  Madeira.  They  were  captured  by  the  Barbary 
powers  and  carried  to  Morocco,  where  they  fell  in  with 
their  old  companions,  who  had  been  driven  on  the  same 
shores  and  lost  their  vessel.  While  they  were  all  confined 
in  slavery,  the  topic  of  their  adventures  was  often  the  sub- 
ject of  their  conversation,  all  of  which  Juan  de  Morales, 
a  Spaniard,  was  particular  in  observing,  and  treasuring 
in  his  memory.  He  questioned  them  about  the  island, 
and  all  particulars  which  he  deemed  of  interest  as  to  its 
locality,  beauty,  and  worth.  With  this  information 
he  was  soon  afterwards  ransomed,  by  the  particular  in- 
tervention of  the  king  of  Spain ;  but  while  returning  to 
his  own  country,  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  into 
Lisbon  by  Joao  Gonsalves  Zarco,  a  Portuguese  naviga- 
tor, to  whom  he  narrated  the  particulars,  which  he  had 
gained  from  the  party  of  English,  who  had  been  his  fel- 
low prisoners  at  Morocco. 

Zarco,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  adventure,  communi- 
cated the  intelligence  which  he  had  gained  from  the  Span- 
iard to  the  Infant  Henry  of  Portugal,  whose  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  Edward  III.  of  England.  The  Prince 
Henry  submitted  the  information  to  his  brother,  Don 
John,  the  king  of  Portugal,  who  immediately  ordered  a 
ship  to  be  got  in  readiness  for  Zarco,  who  undertook, 


82  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

without  delay,  to  make  the  discovery  of  the  island  of  which 
they  had  gained  this  account.  He  sailed  on  the  first  of 
June,  1419,  and  reached  Porto  Santo,  which  had  been 
discovered  a  few  years  before,  and  was  held  by  the  Por- 
guese.  He  made  a  short  stay.  The  inhabitants  inform- 
ed him  that  off  at  the  westward,  a  dark  stupendous  object 
was  always  seen,  which  loomed  up  in  the  distance,  but 
which  they  had  never  approached  from  its  dismal  appear- 
ance, and  which,  with  the  superstitious  apprehensions  of 
the  age,  they  regarded  as  the  haunt  of  demons  and  evil 
spirits.  The  adventurous  navigator  having  seen  too  ma- 
ny dangers  to  be  alarmed  by  this  representation  of  the 
supposed  residence  of  evil  genii,  set  off  on  his  course,  and 
soon  made  the  island  for  which  he  steered  ;  and  as  he  gained 
a  nearer  view  of  the  dark  object  as  it  first  presented  itself 
to  the  sight,  he  thought  the  lightsome  beauty  of  its  green 
sides,  more  nearly  than  any  other  known  land,  realized  the 
fancy  of  a  region  of  fairies,  and  a  scene  of  the  golden  age. 

At  the  bay  they  first  entered,  Zarco  sent  one  of  his 
followers  on  shore  to  make  what  discoveries  might  pre- 
sent themselves.  He  landed  at  the  very  spot  which  the 
English  voyagers  had  but  lately  occupied.  They  soon 
traced  their  way  to  the  place  where  the  unfortunate  lov- 
ers were  interred.  The  altar  and  the  cross  with  the 
inscription  were  soon  discovered,  and  the  spot,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  misfortunes  of  the  unhappy  Machin, 
received  the  name  of  Machico,  which  it  still  retains. 

The  company  having  returned  to  the  ship  with  their  in- 
teresting report  to  Zarco,  he,  accompanied  by  two  priests, 
went  on  shore,  and  on  the  same  day,  the  2d  of  July,  1419, 
made  a  pious  visit  to  the  tomb  of  the  two  lovers.  The 
ceremonial  of  thanksgiving  for  the  discovery  of  the  island 
was  performed,  and  formal  possession  of  the  same,  in  the 
name  of  the  king  of  Portugal,  was  taken,  to  whose  domin- 
ions the  island  has  ever  since  been  attached.  The  ser- 
vice for  the  dead,  according  to  the  Roman  ritual,  was 
then  said  at  the  sepulchre,  and  the  ceremonies  concluded 
by  laying  the  first  corner-stone  of  the  church,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  request  of  Machin,  was  dedicated  to  the 
Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  subsequently  the  edifice 
was  completed,  by  the  materials  from  the  tree  that  shel- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  83 

tered,  during  their  residence  on  the  island,  the  followers 
of  the  devoted  Machin  and  Anna  D'Arfet.  The  pavement 
of  the  choir  was  intersected  with  the  bones  of  the  unfor- 
tunate lovers,  whose  story  has  served  to  add  romance  to 
this  green  isle  of  the  ocean,  and  which  history  has  digni- 
fied by  repeating,  with  how  much  truth  we  stop  not  to  in- 
quire, and  care  not  particularly  to  know.  But  we  do 
know,  that  nowhere  else  could  the  unfortunate  Machin 
and  the  lovely  Anna  d'Arfet  have  found  a  sweeter  spot 
to  repose  their  mingled  dust,  until  it  awake  again  for  the 
ever-green  youth  of  ever-blooming  years.  So  ends  the 
legend  of  Machin  and  Anna  d'Arfet. 

Zarco  found  the  island  so  thickly  coated  with  immense 
forest  trees,  that  he  gave  it  the  name  of  Madeira,  or  Mat- 
tera,  which  signifies  THE  ISLE  OF  WOOD.  Proceeding  still 
further  along  to  the  west  he  came  to  an  open  bay,  which 
he  deemed  to  be  the  most  favorable  site  for  the  capital  of 
the  island.  As  the  spot  was  remarkable  for  its  large 
quantities  of  fennel,  which  is  Funchal  in  the  Portuguese 
language,  he  gave  this  name  to  the  location  from  this  bo- 
tanical association,  which  has  been  retained  up  to  the 
present  time. 

Zarco  transmitted  his  favorable  reports  to  the  king ;  and 
Madeira  having  become  a  part  of  the  Portuguese  domin- 
ions, Joao  Gonsalves  Zarco  was  justly  appointed  to  the 
government  of  the  island.  The  king  also  dignified  Zarco 
with  the  rank  of  nobility.  And  that  he  might  add  impor- 
tance to  these  his  newly  acquired  possessions,  Don  John 
sent  three  young  noblemen  from  his  palace  to  espouse 
the  three  daughters  of  Zarco,  whom  the  king  had  endow- 
ed with  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  island  ;  and  from  these, 
it  is  said,  the  principal  families  of  Madeira  are  de- 
scended. 

The  island  of  Madeira  has  been  known  to  Americans 
principally  for  its  wines  ;  and  in  former  years,  on  account 
of  the  quantities  of  bread-stuffs  which  were  imported  in- 
to the  island  from  the  United  States.  In  later  years  the 
number  of  vessels  arriving  here  from  the  United  States 
has  diminished ;  while  it  is  still  a  matter  of  some  interest 
in  our  commerce. 

The  principal  part  of  the  trade  is  in  the  hands  of  the 


84          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

English  merchants,  who  have  their  permanent  residences 
on  the  island,  with  their  families. 

THE  GRAPE,  AND  MODE  OF  MAKING  WINE. 

The  following  particulars  in  connection  with  the  culti- 
vation of  the  vine  and  the  manner  of  securing  its  product, 
may  not  be  uninteresting,  as  given,  in  substance,  in  a 
sketch  by  Mr.  Bowditch.  The  best  kind  of  grapes  for 
making  wine  are  the  Dual,  Sercial,  Verdelha,  Negro 
Mole,  and  Malvasia.  They  are  said  not  to  be  palatable, 
as  eating  fruit.  The  vines  are  propagated  by  cuttings, 
which  are  planted  in  trenches.  The  usual  mode  of  train- 
ing the  vines  is  on  trellises,  made  of  common  cane,  and 
from  two  to  three  feet  above  the  ground.  The  com- 
mencement of  gathering  the  grapes  for  pressing  is  early 
in  September.  The  grapes  are  first  trodden  by  the  feet, 
in  a  trough  made  of  wood,  or  excavated  in  the  rocks ; 
and  the  first  juice,  thus  expressed,  is  distinguished  as  the 
vinho  da  Jlor.  The  bruised  grapes  are  then  collected 
within  the  coils  of  a  thick  rope,  made  of  the  twisted 
shoots  of  the  vine,  and  repeatedly  subjected  to  the  press 
for  the  second  quality,  called  must.  This  is  mixed,  usual- 
ly, with  the  vinho  da  Jlor,  and  transferred  the  same  day 
into  casks  to  ferment.  The  rapidity  of  the  fermentation 
depends  partly  on  the  warmth  of  the  weather,  and  also  on 
the  perfect  maturity  of  the  grape.  The  more  violent 
action  commonly  ceases  in  about  a  month  or  six  weeks; 
but  a  certain  degree  of  fermentation  continues  to  go  on, 
particularly  in  the  richer  qualities  of  vines.  The  liquors 
are  clarified  by  a  kind  of  gipsum,  brought  chiefly  from 
Spain.  This  is  the  last  process  of  the  operation.  Near 
the  beginning  of  the  year  the  wine  is  racked  from  the  lees. 

In  the  case  of  the  Tinto  wine  made  of  the  black  grapes, 
(negro  mole,)  the  grapes  undergo  only  one  pressure  from 
the  lever,  and  are  afterwards  drained  through  a  sieve, 
which  allows  the  husks  and  seeds  to  pass,  the  stalks  only 
remaining  behind.  The  whole  is  put  into  a  vat  open  at 
the  top  and  strained  three  or  four  times  during  the  day, 
until  the  fermentation  has  ceased.  Then  it  is  racked  off 
into  casks. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  85 

In  making  the  white  wines,  the  different  kinds  of  grapes 
are  commonly  mixed  together,  except  the  Malvasia  or 
Malmsey,  and  the  Sercial.  The  Malmsey  grapes  are 
suffered  to  ripen  for  a  month  later  than  any  other,  until 
the  skin  begins  to  shrivel.  The  Malmsey  grape  is  pro- 
duced only  on  a  few  spots,  enjoying  a  peculiar  warmth  of 
exposure.  The  grape  does  not  always  produce  a  sweet 
wine.  Indeed  it  only  does  so  in  one  or  two  situations.  In 
other  cases  sugar,  burnt  by  a  particular  wood,  is  thrown  in. 

The  Sercial  also  will  succeed  only  in  particular  spots. 
The  quantity  produced  scarcely  equals  fifty  pipes  a  year. 

A  quantity  of  brandy,  from  two  gallons  a  pipe  and  up- 
wards, is  generally  thrown  into  the  wines  intended  for  ex- 
portation, with  the  exception,  it  is  said,  of  the  Tinto.  In 
the  war  time,  when,  from  the  great  demand,  the  mer- 
chants were  unable  to  keep  a  great  stock  on  hand,  it  was 
usual  to  ripen  the  wines  by  the  use  of  stoves,  raising  the 
heat  gradually  from  60  to  100  degrees  ;  and  it  is  still  the 
practice  to  subject  a  certain  portion  of  the  vintage  to  the 
operation  of  this  artificial  temperature.  The  mellowness 
of  the  wine  is  no  doubt  thus  accelerated,  but  at  some  ex- 
pense of  the  delicacy  of  its  flavor. 

The  average  quantity  of  the  produce  throughout  the 
island  is  one  pipe  to  the  acre,  though  in  some  instances 
four  pipes  have  been  obtained. 

The  wine  from  the  north  of  the  island  is  generally  in- 
ferior in  quality.  It  is  nearly  all  consumed  on  the  island, 
or  converted  into  brandy.  There  are  about  twelve  distil- 
leries. Three  pipes  of  wine  make  one  of  brandy. 

The  quantity  of  wine  produced  during  the  five  preced- 
ing years,  according  to  a  statement  furnished  me  by  the 
American  Consul,  is  as  follows : 

In  1834,  15,000  pipes. 

In  1835,  15,500     " 

In  1836,  29,000     " 

In  1837,  29,000*  " 

*  The  Malmsey  wine  has  been  known  formerly  as  forming  a  lux- 
uriant beverage  of  the  more  opulent  classes  in  England.  It  is  fre- 
quently mentioned  by  Shakspeare,  and  is  seen  in  all  the  accounts 
of  ancient  feasts,  and  in  the  household  books  of  the  nobility  of  forrn- 

8 


86  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

As  I  descended  the  gangway  to  the  deck,  on  the  last 
evening  of  our  stay  at  Madeira,  the  First  Lieutenant,  with 
his  usual  and  always  amiable  smile,  exclaimed,  "  Why, 
Mr.  T.,  you  like  to  have  been  left — we  only  wait  for  the 
departure  of  some  gentlemen,  who  have  been  dining  with 
the  Commodore,  before  we  weigh  anchors."  An  hour 
afterwards,  and  all  hands  were  called  to  unmoor  ship. 

The  frigate's  last  boat  had  left  the  shore  at  sunset,  but 
as  I  saw  no  movement  on  board  either  of  the  two  ships,  I 
ventured  to  delay  a  half  hour,  with  the  design  of  being 
pushed  off  in  a  shore-boat.  I  was  on  my  way  for  a  ramble 
through  the  buildings  occupied  by  the  Franciscans,  before 
they  were  banished  from  the  island.  By  their  tenets,  this 
order  of  monks  exclude  themselves  from  all  participation 
in  other  possessions  than  houses  for  their  lodgings  ;  acting 
literally  on  the  precept,  "  provide  neither  gold  nor  silver;" 
they  were  to  beg  for  their  living,  and  to  pursue  the  course 
of  profoundest  humility,  in  the  externals  of  dress,  food,  and 
their  general  intercourse  with  men,  as  well  as  in  their  pri- 
vate communion  with  their  God.  But  after  the  death  of 
St.  Francis,  their  founder,  succeeding  generals  of  their  or- 
der encouraged  a  mitigation  of  the  strict  rules  of  St.  Fran- 
cis, while  the  fraternity  yet  remained  mendicants,  but  en- 
joyed, from  various  Popes,  certain  privileges  which  yield- 
ed them  revenues  for  their  comfortable  living.  Formerly, 
there  were  three  branches  of  the  general  institution  in 
Funchal.  Their  convent,  to  which  I  was  directing  my 
way,  once  exhibited,  in  its  spacious  building,  one  small 
chamber,  displaying  a  peculiar  furniture.  Its  ceilings  arid 
walls  were  covered  with  human  skulls  and  thigh-bones,  so 
arranged  as  to  form  a  triangle,  with  skulls  at  each  point. 
A  figure  of  St.  Francis  was  balancing  the  representation 
of  a  saint  and  a  sinner,  to  ascertain  which  was  the  heavier 

er  times.  The  Duke  of  Clarence,  according  to  English  historians, 
was  drowned  in  a  butt  of  it ;  and  whether  from  any  particularly 
inspiring  property  it  possesses,  we  do  not  pretend  to  say,  but  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  this  sweet  wine  is  allowed,  as  the  annual  stipend  of 
the  poet  laureat.  It  was  formerly  brought  to  England  from  Malvisia,  a 
town  on  the  east  coast  of  the  Morea,  from  whence  it  derived  its  name. 
And  from  the  grape,  originally  transplanted  from  Malvisia  to  Ma- 
deira, as  is  supposed,  the  modern  Malmsey  is  produced. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  87 

of  the  two.  A  lamp  suspended  from  the  ceiling  threw  its 
dim  light  on  the  skeleton  scene,  which  it  were  better  should 
have  been  veiled  by  a  curtain  of  darkness.  The  number 
of  bones  in  this  collection  was  deemed  more  than  three 
thousand.  But  with  the  banishment  of  this  order  of  friars 
from  the  island,  this  chamber  of  skeletons  no  longer  re- 
mains a  relic  of  Franciscan  taste,  although  nothing  has 
surprised  me  more  than  the  collection  of  skulls  and  their 
associate  bones,  which  have  met  my  eye  within  the  few 
days  of  my  visit  to  the  island.  The  phrenologist  might 
have  made  a  collection  of  any  amount  of  these  sad  relics, 
to  deck  the  shelves  of  his  lecture-room. 

I  did  not  reach  the  point  of  the  walk  which  I  had  pro- 
posed to  myself.  Mr.  B.,  a  friend,  met  me,  and  repeated 
inquiries  which  the  interesting  Clementina,  whom  I  first 
saw  in  her  assumed  character  of  nun,  at  the  convent,  had 
made.  I  left  for  her  cordial  assurances  of  interest,  which 
the  incidents  of  the  convent  would  render  permanent, 
among  my  acceptable  recollections  of  the  green  isle  of 
Madeira.  I  regretted  that  the  ship's  boat,  by  which  I 
was  to  visit  the  shore  for  the  last  time,  was  on  the  eve  of 
leaving  the  ship  at  the  moment  of  her  visiting  the  frigate 
during  the  morning,  with  her  father.  It  is  a  strange  fata- 
lity, which  seems  often  to  guide  our  steps.  By  strange 
coincidences  we  meet.  As  strangers,  we  are  surprised 
at  the  interest  which  a  passing  interview  with  the  stranger 
has  awakened.  The  golden  chain  of  sympathy  has  wound 
yet  another  coil  around  the  heart.  And  when  we  hope 
again  to  meet,  some  fatality  has  forbidden  ;  and  then  comes 
the  passing  salutation  ;  and  then,  the  wave,  the  surge,  the 
ocean,  bear  us  on  our  separate  courses,  like  divergent  rays 
of  light,  each  moment  of  their  flight,  further  and  still 
further  apart. 

Some  of  the  stragglers  from  the  John  Adams  were  has- 
tening to  their  boat,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  her 
sails  fall.  With  an  admonition  to  another  idler  from  the 
Columbia,  who  proposed  delaying  until  nine  o'clock,  to 
finish  his  notes  on  shore,  I  placed  myself  in  a  shore-boat, 
yet  dry  upon  the  pebbled  beach.  Two  athletic  oarsmen 
were  in  their  seats,  when  four  others  of  their  associates 
watched  the  movement  of  the  in-rolling  breaker,  and  as  it 


88  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

was  returning  to  the  sea,  launched  our  light  bark  on  the 
mimic  billow,  which  bore  us  to  the  unbroken  water  from 
off  the  beach.  A  pull  of  a  half  hour  brought  us  within 
the  hail  of  the  sentry,  in  the  chains  of  the  good  Columbia. 

Descending  to  the  ward-room,  I  found  the  Consul  tak- 
ing tea  with  the  gentlemen  of  the  mess. 

"  Well,  Mr.  T.,"  said  the  Consul,  as  he  rose  to  welcome 
me,  "  I  was  just  devising  how  I  should  entertain  the  chap- 
lain if  you  had  chanced  to  be  left." 

"  Sat  cito  si  sat  tuto,"  I  replied — soon  enough  if  safe 
enough.  He  had  my  thanks  for  the  entertainment  he  had 
already  so  politely  extended,  and  here  (I  held  up  a  beauti- 
ful handful  of  flowers)  was  a  magnificent  bunch  of  gera- 
niums from  his  grounds,  which  would  remind  me  of  the 
Consulate  when  the  green  isle  had  sunk  far  in  the  distance. 

The  gentlemen  from  shore  soon  after  left  the  ship,  and 
"all  hands  to  up  anchor,  ahoy,"  was  piped  along  the 
decks ;  and  soon  the  music,  to  which  the  men  walked 
around  with  the  capstan,  was  heard  mingling  with  the 
occasional  clank  of  the  coming  in  of  the  iron  cable. 

And  now  we  leave  thee,  sweet  Madeira,  with  all  thy 
flower-enamelled  hills,  and  geranium  avenues,  and  hedges 
of  roses,  and  terraces  of  ever-green  and  ever-blooming 
shrubs,  and  trellises  of  vines,  and  embowered  quintas,  with 
balcony  and  turret.  But  not  all  of  thee  shall  we  leave, 
for  of  thee  we  have  treasured  up  thoughts  that  may  not 
die.  Yet  fare  thee  well,  thou  green  isle  !  Henceforth  thou 
shalt  lie,  as  a  beautiful  thing,  in  my  memory.  And  the 
names  of  some  who  dwell  among  thy  garden-flowers,  are 
treasured  where  they  are  not  to  be  forgotten.  The  shades 
of  evening  have  shut  in,  and  only  the  lights  that  gleam 
from  thy  balconies  tell  me  where  lie  thy  beautiful  parterres. 
But  the  clear  blue  sky  spreads  its  canopy  of  early  eve 
above  thy  shaded  isle.  And  I  have  now  given  to  ye  all 
my  last  look,  and  seek  my  room.  Then, 

Good-night,  good-night !  one  star  is  o'er  you  peering, 
As  'cross  the  wave  our  gallant  ship  is  steering ; 
Good-night,  good-night !  ye'll  calmly  seek  your 
While  we,  afar,  are  toss'd  upon  the  billow. 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  89 


SECTION    IV. 

Ships  stand  south.  Sunday  exercises.  Meeting  of  friends  in  another  world. 
A  grasshopper  visits  the  ship.  His  message  a  true  one.  Cape  de  Verdes. 
General  quarters.  Crossing  the  Line.  Star-gazing.  The  old  eagle  at 
home.  Reefing.  An  Extract.  A  Naval  toast.  A  man  overboard.  Me- 
mory  of  the  departed  and  loved.  South  American  coast  in  sight.  Moon- 
light scene.  Entering  the  narrow  pass  to  the  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
Music  at  sundown. 

OUR  two  ships  have  been  standing  on  their  southwest- 
erly course,  from  Madeira,  for  several  days,  without  any 
incident  of  particular  interest  occurring.  It  has  been  a 
leisure  moment  for  reviewing  the  scenes  which  presented 
themselves  to  us  at  Madeira,  the  fairy  isle  which  cannot 
fail  to  originate  in  the  mind  of  the  visiter  many  pleasur- 
able visions,  and  always  be  recalled  in  the  future,  among 
the  most  welcome  memories. 

On  the  first  Sunday  out  of  Madeira,  after  the  religious 
exercises  of  the  day,  one  of  the  Lieutenants  joined  me  as 
I  was  pacing  the  quarter-deck,  and  expressed  his  persua- 
sion that  he  would  become  religious  if  one  idea  could  be 
made  certain  to  him,  which  I  had  advanced  in  my  morn- 
ing's discourse.  It  related  to  the  meeting  of  friends,  and 
their  recognition  of  each  other,  in  another  world.  That 
Christian  friends  will  meet  in  heaven,  and  there  recognise 
each  other,  I  believe  to  be  the  general  drift  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. "  To  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  is  far  better," 
is  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  applicable  to  all  Christians 
as  well  as  to  the  Apostle.  And  if  Christians  shall  all  be 
with  Christ,  they,  by  consequence,  will  be  with  each  other. 
And  retaining  their  memories,  as  one  constituent  part  of 
their  mental  and  responsible  being,  they  must,  as  associate 
and  social  spirits,  recognise  each  other,  in  their  eternal 
intercourse  in  the  society  of  the  redeemed.*  This  young 

*  See  this  subject  treated  at  length  in  "  ELLA  V — ,  on  THE  JULY 
TOUR,"  written  by  the  author  of  the  Flag  Ship,  wherein  the  travel- 
ling party  is  represented  as  holding  several  conversations  on  the  sub- 
ject, while  visiting  the  beautiful  burial  grounds  at  Mount  Auburn, 
near  Boston. 

8* 


90  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

gentleman's  interest  in  the  subject  of  which  he  spoke  was 
sincere ;  and  he  has  had  my  sympathy  and  solicitude  for 
his  highest  happiness  for  this  and  the  coming  world. 

We  infer  that  land  is  not  far  from  us,  as  a  grasshop- 
per has  made  his  off-shore  leaps,  to  visit  so  strange  a  thing 
as  a  man-of-war.  Had  he  been  a  Malay,  perhaps  we 
should  have  asked  him  questions  about  his  so  unceremoni- 
ously boarding  us.  And  what  must  have  been  his  surprise, 
as  he  cautiously  crawled  up  our  sides  and  took  his  first 
view  of  our  fearful  decks,  with  their  threatening  forty- two 
pounders  lining  their  long  bulwarks,  with  perforations, 
through  which  "  death  and  destruction"  bear  forth  to  their 
enemies  "  blood  and  carnage  sounding  with  death-groans." 
And  then,  as  he  looked  upon  the  four  or  five  hundred 
tarpaulin-headed  sons  of  the  ocean,  moving  over  the  decks 
of  the  sea-monster — here,  in  unison  pulling  upon  some 
sinew  of  the  moving  animal,  or  there,  easing  a  strain  upon 
one  of  her  tiring  wings ;  then,  as  he  saw  certain  timid 
young  gentlemen  waiting,  with  expectant  attention,  the 
order  of  the  deck-officer,  who  was  about  to  speak  big 
words  through  a  trumpet ;  and  then,  as  he  sat  on  the  lee 
gunwale  and  cast  his  eye  to  the  quarter-deck,  and  caught 
a  look  at  a  venerable  and  graceful  old  gentleman  in  gold 
lace  and  epaulets  and  bright  buttons,  moving  backwards 
and  forwards  in  commanding  dignity  and  self-possession  ; 
and  then,  as  he  gazed  upon  the  bright  things,  and  the 
dark  things,  and  the  painted  things,  and  the  double  edged 
things,  and  the  confused  things,  and  the  straight  things, 
and  the  crooked  things,  surely,  his  agitated  bosom  must, 
at  length,  have  heaved  in  fearful  and  profound  surprise. 
Ah  !  Mr.  Grasshopper !  not  I  should  like  to  have  been 
upon  thy  trembling  legs.  In  fearful  haste  to  re-seek  my 
forsaken  land-home,  I  should,  with  a  single  leap,  have  re- 
laved  my  grasshopper  sides  ! 

The  grasshopper's  message  was  a  true  one.  At  meri- 
dian, the  cry  of  "land  ho  !"  told  us,  that  we  were  sailing 
through  the  pass  between  the  islands  of  the  Cape  de 
Verdes — Saint  Jago  on  our  right — and  the  Isle  of  May  on 
our  left.  The  jagged  outlines  of  St.  Jago  present  a  pecu- 
liar appearance,  lower  than  Madeira,  but  barren,  as  we 
see  it  through  the  mists  which  render  its  base  indistinct, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  91 

and  its  more  elevated  points  devoid  of  other  interest  than  that 
found  in  the  varied  shades  which  its  nearer  prominences, 
in  contrast  with  the  further-in  ravines,  produce,  while  the 
blending  of  the  irregular  tops  of  the  cragged  peaks,  repre- 
sents the  troubled  waves  of  a  rolling  ocean,  when  render- 
ed partially  indistinct  by  the  mists  which  sweep  over  its 
gray  bosom. 

GENERAL    QUARTERS. 

A  proud  frigate  with  all  her  equipments  of  war,  and 
tracery  of  cordage,  and  sheets  of  canvass,  is  always  an 
object  to  secure  the  gazer's  admiration  for  her  beauty  and 
grandeur.  But  nowhere,  save  in  the  storm,  is  the  interest 
which  one  feels  as  he  stands  upon  her  deck,  more  intense, 
than  during  the  profound  silence  that  occurs  at  general 
quarters. 

A  few  rolls  of  the  drum  beat  the  call  to  quarters,  first 
slow,  then  quicker,  and  in  another  moment  the  thrilling 
roll  has  ceased,  giving  only  time  for  every  man  to  reach 
his  place.  The  officers,  with  their  swords  in  hand,  are  at 
the  position  they  would  occupy  in  an  engagement.  The 
men  are  at  their  guns.  The  magazine  is  opened,  and  the 
passers  of  powder  occupy  their  stations,  forming  a  line  to 
the  decks  from  the  depository  of  the  fearful  agent,  which 
is  to  do  the  deeds  of  destruction,  devastation,  and  death. 
A  hasty  review  of  each  division  is  gone  through  by  its  offi- 
cer, who  reports  his  division  to  the  commanding  officer 
as  ready  for  action ;  when  he  returns  again  in  silence,  to 
wait  the  orders  which  are  to  succeed.  It  is,  at  this  mo- 
ment, a  stillness  reigns  through  the  ship,  so  hushed,  that  a 
single  sigh  could  almost  be  heard ;  and  the  step  of  the 
commanding  officer  sounds,  as  he  paces  the  deck  back^ 
wards  and  forwards,  as  if  he  were  the  solitary  being  that 
possessed  the  ship.  The  deep  stillness  impresses  the  soul 
like  the  ominous  foreboding  which  precedes  the  earth^ 
quake,  or  as  the  interlude  between  the  eruptions  of  the 
volcano. 

Such  was  the  scene  exhibited  to-day,  June  12th.  The 
sea  was  calm.  The  sails  hung  flat  to  the  masts.  The 
beat  to  quarters  had  rolled  through  the  ship ;  and  in  an- 


92  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

other  moment,  every  man  was  at  his  station.  The  ship's 
crew  had  been  almost  daily  exercised  at  the  guns,  that 
they  might  become  familiar  with  their  management ;  but 
to-day  their  evolutions  were  to  include  the  discharge  of 
four  rounds  of  canister.  The  order  was  given,  and  the 
double  broadside,  with  the  thunder  of  sixty  cannon,  boomed 
over  the  wide  sea.  Then  the  irregular  cannonading  suc- 
ceeded, each  division  vieing  with  the  others,  in  their  en- 
deavor to  exceed,  in  quickness  of  action,  the  discharge 
of  the  others'  pieces,  while  the  successive  and  quick  report 
of  musketry  was  heard  from  the  upper  deck. 

I  had  passed  from  the  magazine  to  the  berth-deck  dur- 
ing the  action,  where  I  met  the  surgeon.  For  a  moment 
the  cannonading  had  ceased.  The  hatch  of  the  gun-deck 
was  hurriedly  raised,  and  the  word  passed  for  the  surgeon. 
The  doctor,  attended  by  one  of  his  assistants,  was  immedi- 
ately at  the  spot,  where  a  wounded  sailor  was  lying,  with 
a  lacerated  arm  dripping  with  blood,  and  two  fingers 
blown  from  his  hand.  The  accident  occurred  in  conse- 
quence of  the  bursting  of  a  powder-horn  while  re-priming 
a  gun,  a  portion  of  an  ignited  match  having  remained  upon 
the  breech  after  the  match  had  been  unsuccessfully  applied 
to  the  priming  tube.  Others,  who  were  standing  about 
the  gun,  were  slightly  wounded.  The  principal  sufferer 
had  his  hand  and  arm  immediately  dressed,  and  was  con- 
veyed, in  a  cot,  after  the  closing  of  the  magazine,  to  a 
position  in  the  sick-bay.  A  few  hours  afterwards,  he  was 
carried  to  a  yet  more  comfortable  place  on  the  gun-deck. 
I  went  to  the  sick-bay  after  the  mock-fight  was  over,  and 
found  some  half  a  dozen  of  the  men  having  their  slight 
cuts  and  bruises  bandaged. 

There  is  seldom  any  good  we  would  secure,  which  is 
not  attended  by  some  evil,  in  the  way  of  our  obtaining  it. 
And  the  very  accidents  which  occur  on  these  occasions 
of  exercise,  show  the  necessity  of  their  repetition,  that 
the  crew  may  become  familiar  with  their  duty,  and  be 
saved  from  greater  destruction,  in  case  of  any  necessity 
for  conducting  a  general  engagement  with  an  enemy ;  or 
in  sustaining  the  proper  dignity  of  the  national  flag.  Our 
men-of-war,  even  in  times  of  peace,  are  often  placed  in 
circumstances,  critical  in  themselves,  and  requiring  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  93 

self-possession  of  confident  preparation,  to  enable  a  com- 
mander to  act  with  the  dignity  which  his  station,  as  the 
protector  of  our  commerce  in  foreign  ports,  or  as  the 
politic  negotiator,  requires.  The  crew  have  also  been 
drilled  in  the  use  of  small-arms,  and  exercised  in  the 
evolutions  for  boarding  with  the  pikes  and  cutlasses,  as 
well  as  in  the  calling  away  of  the  firemen  with  their  water- 
buckets,  in  case  of  the  critical  situation  of  the  ship  on  fire. 

When  the  exercises  of  our  guns  were  over,  volumes  of 
dense  smoke  were  seen  to  issue  from  the  ports  of  the 
John  Adams,  now  lying  on  our  larboard  quarter ;  and  in 
a  moment  more,  the  roar  of  her  cannon  told  us  that  she 
was  following  the  motions  of  the  Columbia. 

We  are  nearing  the  line  this  evening,  if  we  have  not 
already  bounded  over  it.  Our  latitude  at  meridian,  July 
17th,  was  49'  North.  We  are  driving  along  finely,  with 
royals  set  and  filled  with  the  fresh  trades  from  the  south- 
east. The  night  is  fine ;  and  the  contrast  of  variables 
and  calms  which  have  attended  us  for  a  few  days  past, 
renders  our  present  good  fortune  doubly  acceptable,  and 
conducive  to  make  us  all  good-natured.  The  breeze 
comes  blandly  upon  the  cheek,  while  dark  clouds,  in 
their  characteristic  gray  of  the  trades,  form  a  panoramic 
view  in  the  horizon.  The  sun  fell  beneath  a  serrated 
vapor  bank,  and  lighted  up  its  cragged  peaks  with  a 
fringe  of  gold.  The  twilight  was  briefj  while  the  strag- 
gling gray  clouds  began  to  assume  a  dull  but  soft  bottle- 
green  color,  deepening  as  they  sailed  through  a  back- 
ground, which  changed  from  the  faintest  light  to  a  shade 
of  pink,  as  delicate  as  the  softest  blush  on  the  cheek  of 
loveliest  lady.  And  now  above  us,  and  higher  up  than 
ever  before  I  had  seen  her  riding  through  her  azure  halls, 
every  moment  deepening  in  their  blue,  the  lovely  Diana 
moved  on  her  course  serene,  with  a  night-brilliant  thrown 
carelessly  upon  her  western  horn,  as  if  to  pioneer  her 
way  of  gems  and  purple. 

I  was  on  the  horse-block  with  the  surgeon,  looking  at 
the  scene  in  the  west,  and  inhaling  the  delightful  breeze 
of  the  evening's  earliest  hour,  which,  although  in  the 
temperature  of  82°  F.  to-night,  reminded  me  of  the 
bracing  atmosphere  of  earliest  nothern  autumnal  days. 


94  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

"  Two  idlers  here,  that  should  be  ordered  to  the  deck," 
said  the  First  Lieutenant,  as  he  made  a  third  upon  the 
horse-block. 

"  And  that  fringe  of  gold  thereaway,  is  worth  looking 
at  and  remembering,  as  seen  on  the  eve  when  we  were 
on  the  widest  point  of  earth  and  ocean,"  I  repeated. 

"  Fine,  indeed,"  continued  the  First  Luff.  "  But,  Doc- 
tor, do  you  see  the  Line  yet  ?  It  strikes  me  that  you  and 
Mr.  T.  look  as  if  you  might  need  shaving  before  morning." 

"  The  Line  has  not  snubbed  us  yet,"  added  Lieut.  W., 
who  had  also  joined  the  party,  "  but  there  goes  a  bird, 
and  there  another.  They  are  as  great  boobies  as  our- 
selves, for  being  here ;  at  least,  Jack  calls  them  boobies, 
as  they  sometimes  light  upon  the  ship,  and  in  an  instant 
seem  to  be  asleep,  and  suffer  themselves  to  be  taken." 

"  See  you  that  ?"  added  Lieutenant  P.,  approaching  the 
horse-block  and  pointing  to  a  bank  of  clouds,  which  had 
already  caught  our  admiration,  and  had  not  yet  lost  its 
edge  of  gold. 

"  And  Diana  too,  with  her  bright-eyed  greyhound,  on 
her  evening  hunt,  see  you  not  that  also  ?"  I  pointed  to 
the  beautiful  moon,  having  at  this  moment  nearly  the 
same  right  ascension  with  Jupiter,  who,  in  his  brilliant 
white  light,  at  this  hour  of  early  evening,  appeared, 
though  intensely  more  bright,  of  the  size  of  a  star  of  the 
fourth  magnitude. 

We  lingered  on  the  side-steps,  and  talked  of  olden 
customs,  when  crossing  the  Line ;  and  chatted  of  other 
things,  like  a  group  of  idlers,  enjoying  the  sweet  hour 
and  the  lovely  scene,  and  snuffing  the  soft  air,  while  we 
were  gliding  finely  through  the  waters,  with  our  sails 
trimmed  on  a  tack  which,  with  the  southeast  trades,  we 
expected  would  last,  almost  without  touching  a  cord,  for 
a  dozen  days  to  come. 

A  boy  from  the  ward-room  approached,  and  touching 
his  hat,  said  that  tea  was  ready.  The  horse-block  and 
the  tea-table  have  their  separate  temptations ;  and  we 
left  the  sociability  of  the  one,  and  the  gorgeous  scene 
contemplated  from  it,  for  the  cheer  and  the  chat  of  the 
other. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  95 


STAR-GAZING    AT    SEA. 

It  is  a  glorious  thing,  that  gemmed  blue  sky,  which 
nightly  arches  its  spangled  canopy  over  the  head  of  the 
voyager.  I  have  long  and  often  amused  myself  in  read- 
ing the  bright  night-lights,  as  they  have  gleamed  in  their 
mellowed  beauty  of  distance  and  brightness.  I  have 
watched  the  north  polar-star,  from  night  to  night,  as  it 
sank  lower  and  lower  towards  the  horizon,  telling  me 
that  I  was  receding  further  and  still  further  from  the 
land  of  my  home  ;  until,  at  last,  it  sat  to  be  seen  no  more, 
until  our  ship  should  retrace  her  course  from  a  southern 
to  re-enter  a  northern  hemisphere.  The  eye,  however, 
still  lingers  on  the  dipper  of  the  northern  bear,  which  has 
served  to  point  out  to  one  the  position  of  the  polar  gem, 
and  still  tells  him  where  the  sunken  brilliant  gleams,  to 
delight  the  eyes  of  gazers  beneath  another  zenith.  But 
to  me,  one  star,  more  dear  than  any  other,  attracts  and 
holds  my  gaze,  in  the  region  of  the  north.  Nor  is  there 
a  lovelier  gem  in  the  heavens.  It  shines  like  the  ever- 
varying  but  ever-brilliant  hues  of  the  diamond  in  a  well 
lighted  hall,  giving  forth  its  translucent  gleam  of  light, 
now  of  palest  green,  and  then  of  blue,  and  red,  and  some- 
times, in  its  ceaseless  twinkling  scintillations,  deepening 
to  the  blue  of  indigo,  while  undiminished  in  its  brilliancy 
and  light.  It  is  Lyra,  of  the  constellation  of  the  Harp. 
And  it  is  my  natal  star,  reaching  its  meridian  in  the 
month  and  nearly  on  the  day  of  my  birth.  And  it  gleams 
almost  in  the  zenith  of  the  region  that  marks  the  home 
of  my  youth  ;  and  reminds  me  of  hours  when,  with  others, 
I  have  gazed  upon  it  for  its  brightness  and  beauty. 

Nor  is  it  only  our  own  private  associations  which  awake, 
when  the  stars  are  the  objects  of  one's  contemplation. 
The  thoughts  go  back  to  olden  times,  when  the  sages  of 
other  lands  and  periods  gazed  upon  the  same  bright  orbs  ; 
and  astrologers  read  them  as  if  they  might  find,  in  their 
hidden  lore,  the  secret  of  immortal  years  and  the  fortunes 
of  princes,  and  armies,  and  kingdoms,  as  well  as  the  un- 
developed destinies  of  the  private  adventurer,  and  the 
hidden  fortunes  of  the  agitated  and  expectant  lover.  But 


96  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

how  deep  is  the  sleep  that  has  gathered  over  the  closed 
eyes  of  all  that  multitude  of  millions,  who,  like  ourselves, 
have  gazed  on  the  same  undying  lights  which  awake  our 
admiration,  and  still  gleam  in  the  heavens  for  the  delight 
of  generations  yet  to  come !  It  is  no  unwelcome  re  very 
of  the  mind,  while  looking  upon  these  bright  orbs,  to  re- 
call the  recorded  feelings  with  which  others  have  mused, 
like  ourselves,  on  the  blue  heavens,  hung  in  their  gorgeous 
display,  inwrought  and  inlaid  by  the  hand  of  Deity. 
How  many  philosophers  have  gazed  on  these  same  lumina- 
ries, with  lingering  eyes  and  longing  minds,  to  read  the  true 
theory  of  their  motions  and  matter  !  But  the  far-ancient 
solved  not  the  problem  :  his  theories  all  failed  somewhere. 
But  though  ever  fanciful,  they  were  yet  often  beautiful 
imaginings  ;  and  not  unfrequently  were  blended  with  ideas 
strikingly  sublime.  Far  off,  in  that  yonder  region  of  the 
north,  Cosmas  Indopleastes,  who  supposed  this  earth  an 
immense  plane  with  an  insurpassable  ocean  washing  its 
circular  edge,  placed  a  conical  mountain.  Around  this 
he  conjectured  that  the  stars  performed  their  daily  revo- 
lution ;  and  the  sun  also,  with  an  oblique  motion,  by  which 
the  different  lengths  of  the  days  and  the  seasons  were 
accounted  for.  But  the  stars  and  the  sun  itself,  were 
borne  on  in  their  several  courses  by  celestial  spirits. 

And  olden  bards  have  sung  the  same  starry  glories, 
in  strains  which  associate  their  ancient  reveries  with  the 
mystic  dreamings  of  the  philosophers.  Long-haired 
lopas,  as  Virgil's  heroics  tell  us,  tuned  his  gilded  lyre  to 
what  the  mighty  Atlas  taught ;  whence  the  race  of  men 
and  beasts  ;  whence  Arcturus,  the  rainy  Hyades,  and  the 
two  northern  cars  ;  why  winter  suns  make  so  much  haste 
to  set  in  the  ocean,  and  what  retarding  cause  detains  the 
slow  summer  nights.* 

And  Manilius,  in  the  age  of  Augustus  Caesar,  also 
mused  in  numbers  on  the  beautiful  star  of  Lyra,  as 

"  ONE,  placed  in  front  above  the  rest, 
A  vigorous  light ;" 

and  the  story  of  Orpheus  carries  us  back  to  the  period  of 

•*  "  Cithara  crinitus  lopas 
Personal  aurata,  docuit  quae  maximus  Atlas. 
Hie  canit  erratem  Lunam,  Solisque  labores  ; 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  97 

the  Argonauts.  The  constellation  of  which  Lyra  is  the 
principal  star,  as  ancient  legend  tells  us,  is  the  celestial 
Harp,  with  which  Apollo  gifted  Orpheus.  As  he  touched 
its  strings,  rivers  paused  in  their  flow,  and  the  forest-beast 
forgot  his  wildness,  and  hill  and  mountain  moved  to 
listen  to  his  song.  And  when  he  had  lost  his  lovely 
Eurydice,  his  bride,  from  the  land  of  the  nymphs,  his 
grief  led  him  to  the  lower  regions  of  Pluto  and  Pro- 
serpine, in  search  of  her.  He  touched  his  lyre  in  their 
hearing,  and  so  moved  their  pity,  that  they  consented  to 
restore  Eurydice  to  him,  with  the  single  condition  that 
he  should  not  cast  back  his  eyes  upon  his  beautiful  bride, 
before  he  had  reached  the  outer  border  of  their  dark 
dominions.  But,  while  already  in  sight  of  the  upper  re- 
gions of  the  air,  Orpheus  cast  back  one  longing  look  upon 
his  beloved  Eurydice.  He  saw  her ;  but  the  next  mo- 
ment she  was  beyond  his  future  sight.  He  could  not 
re-enter  the  regions  of  Pluto ;  and  on  earth  his  grief  led 
him  to  forsake  all  society  of  his  species.  This  behavior 
so  incensed  the  Thracian  ladies,  as  story  tells  us,  that 
they  destroyed  the  lyric  bard  and  harper,  and  threw  into 
the  river  Hebrus  his  head,  which  continued  to  articulate, 
as  it  glided  down  the  stream  to  the  ^Egean  sea,  "  Eury- 
dice! Eurydice!  Eurydice!" 

Such  is  the  legend  of  Orpheus,  decreed  divine  honors 
after  his  death,  and  his  lyre  placed  among  the  constella- 
tions of  the  heavens.  It  is  not  madness  to  dream,  in  le- 
gends, when  gazing  on  the  stars. 

The  music  of  the  spheres,  we  know,  is  another  olden 
idea — Pythagoras  representing  Apollo  as  playing  upon  a 
seven-stringed  harp ;  by  which,  we  are  informed  by  Pli- 
ny, is  meant  the  sun  and  the  seven  planets.  To  this  har- 
mony of  the  spheres,  Euripides  thus  beautifully  alludes : 
— "  Thee  I  invoke,  thou  self-created  Being,  who  gave 
birth  to  nature,  and  whom  light  and  darkness,  and  the 
whole  train  of  globes  encircle  with  eternal  music." 

But  it  is  in  Shakspeare,  we  may  find  allusion  to  almost 

Unde  hominum  genus  et  pecudes  ;  unde  imber,  et  ignes ; 
Arcturum,  pluriasque  Hyades,  geminosque  Triones 
Quid  tantum  Oceano  properant  se  tingere  Soles 
Hiberni,  vel  quae  tardis  mora  noctibus  obstet," 
9 


98  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

every  thing ;  and  as  no  other  bard  has  described,  and  no 
othermuse  hassung.  What  can  surpass  the  lines  I  copy  here? 

"  Look,  how  the  floor  of  heaven 
Is  thick  inlaid  with  patines  of  bright  gold ; 
There's  not  the  smallest  orb,  which  thou  behold'st, 
But  in  his  motion,  like  an  angel,  sings, 
Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubim : 
Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls ; 
But  whilst  this  muddy  vesture  of  decay 
Doth  grossly  close  it  in,  we  cannot  hear  it" 

But  as  I  turn  from  the  beautiful  star  Lyra,  my  eye  rests, 
not  far  off  in  the  S.  W.,  on  Arcturus,  "  the  brightest,  the 
fairest  of  the  stars,"  another  favorite,  but  all  unlike  the 
soft  and  modest  Lyra.  It  shone,  in  its  beautiful  red  light, 
almost  in  our  zenith  at  Madeira,  and  by  some  is  deemed 
the  star  of  the  heavens  nearest  to  our  earth,  as  it  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  brightest  and  loveliest  of  the  heavens. 
And  its  associations  bear  us  back  to  sacred  records  as 
well  as  to  pagan  legends.  Surely  nothing  can  be  sub- 
limer  than  some  of  the  allusions  of  the  sacred  penmen, 
when  penetrated  by  a  profound  sense  of  the  omnipotence 
of  the  Deity,  as  seen  in  his  works.  What  can  be  finer, 
or  more  thrilling,  as  an  exhortation  to  a  spirit  that  ac- 
knowledges its  responsibility  to  the  Eternal  God,  than  the 
following?  "  Seek  him  that  maketh  the  seven  stars,  and 
Orion,  and  turneth  the  shadow  of  death  into  morning." 
And  Job  represents  the  Eternal  as  demanding,  "  Knowest 
thou  the  ordinances  of  heaven?  Canst  thou  bind  the 
sweet  influences  of  the  Pleiades,  or  loose  the  bands  of 
Orion  ?  Canst  thou  bring  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  sea- 
son, or  canst  thou  guide  Arcturus  with  his  sons  ?*  And 
this  is  language,  supposed  to  have  been  written,  at  least, 
3351  years  ago.  And  on  that  same  star  gazed  the  patient 
Job,  at  that  far-back  period ;  and  on  the  same  luminary, 
that  loses  nought  of  its  loveliness  or  brightness  with  its 
years,  also  gazed  the  "  priests  of  On,"  in  the  land  of  the 
mighty  Pharaohs,  from  one  of  whom  Pythagoras  gained  his 
knowledge  of  the  theory  of  the  heavens,  and  introduced  the 
true  system  of  the  universe  into  Greece  ;  and  the  daughter 
of  another,  Pharaoh  wisely  gave  to  Joseph,  as  a  bride. 

*  Job  xxxviii  31-33. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  99 

The  stars  of  the  southern  hemisphere  strike  one  as 
being  fewer,  but  brighter  and  more  distinct,  than  those  of 
the  northern.  The  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  appear  at 
greater  intervals  from  each  other,  and  less  surrounded  by 
smaller  stars,  and  nebula.  The  constellation  which  al- 
ways attracts  the  voyager  from  the  north,  who  has  never 
before  crossed  the  Line,  is  the  southern  cross.  This  is 
composed  of  four  distinctly  bright  stars,  forming  the  four 
points  of  a  cross,  one  of  the  first  magnitude,  two  of  the 
second,  and  one  of  the  third  or  fourth.  It  is  a  beautiful 
constellation ;  and  no  wonder  that  it  should  have  attract- 
ed, with  deep  interest,  the  daring  discoverers,  who  sailed 
in  an  age  when  the  cross  was  the  emblem  which  gave 
license  to  conquest,  and  enthusiasm  and  zeal  to  the  bad 
and  the  good,  on  the  land  and  on  the  sea. 

"  He  who  admires  not,  to  the  stars  is  blind." 

The  Aquila,  or  the  Eagle,  has  also  attracted  my  atten- 
tion for  its  beauty,  being  favorably  situated  for  our  ob- 
servation, on  our  passage  from  the  Madeiras  to  the  Bra- 
zils. Its  central  red  brilliant,  called  Altair,  and  a  lunar 
star,  is  a  lovely  gem  of  the  heavens ;  and  it  requires  not 
a  vived  imagination  to  fancy  it  the  bright  eye  of  the  bird 
of  Jove,  though  the  fanciful  resemblances  appropriated, 
by  the  ancients,  to  the  constellations,  have  but  little  re- 
semblance in  reality,  in  the  adjustment  of  the  stars  in 
their  appropriate  places.  And  what  American  can  gaze 
at  the  Eagle  and  not  think  of  the  emblem  in  his  own  na- 
tional escutcheon : 

"  The  bird,  above  the  world  that  dwells  alone, 
And  proudly  makes  the  strength  of  rocks  his  own." 

They  say  he  is  a  noble  bird.  His  bearing,  at  least,  has  been 
a  proud  one  on  the  banners  of  many  nations.  The  Roman 
standard,  as  it  displayed  its  graceful  folds,  spread  the  wings 
of  the  favorite  bird  over  the  hill  and  vale  of  every  known 
land;  and  Napoleon  preferred  the  undaunted  eagle,  an 
emblem  of  his  own  towering  spirit,  to  the  fleur  de  lis. 

When  shall  that  standard,  which  our  own  gallant 
barque  is  now  bearing,  with  honorable  designs,  in  her 
voyage  around  the  world,  cease  to  be,  as  it  now  surely 


100  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

is,  the  emblem  of  as  happy — may  I  not  say  the  happiest 
nation  of  the  globe  ?  There  are  those,  who  seem  to  see 
the  period,  when  we  shall  cease  longer  to  be  a  united 
people.  It  seems  almost  the  fashionable  slang  of  the 
times,  to  predict  the  period  of  our  dismemberment,  in  lan- 
guage, which,  but  a  lew  years  ago,  it  had  been  treason  to 
use.  Bat  is  there  no  sublimer  destiny  before  a  nation, 
which  the  hand  of  Deity  seems  so  strikingly  to  have 
guided  to  independence  and  greatness,  than  what  the  po- 
litical croakers  of  the  day  have  marked  out  for  us  ?  Let 
them  read  the  past.  There  have  been  crises,  which  our 
country  has  met — there  have  been  shoals,  that  threatened 
shipwreck  to  the  beautiful  vessel  of  state,  which,  thus  far, 
in  safety,  has  borne  the  charter  of  our  rights,  liberty,  and 
blessed  happiness;  but  we  have  weathered  the  threatening 
shoal,  and  the  crested  breaker.  Why  shall  we  not  still 
be  able  to  guide  the  national  interests,  though  storm,  and 
tempest,  and  whirlwind  may  sweep  over  us  in  succession, 
and  devastation  often  follow  in  their  train  ?  The  ship 
may  still  ride  safely  on  the  threatening  billow,  though  dis- 
mantled ;  and  like  oil  spread  upon  the  ocean,  producing  a 
calm  to  the  surge,  so  the  clear  interest  of  the  whole  people 
must  ever  allay  the  gale  of  sectional  passion,  before  it 
shall  have  for  ever  crushed  the  hopes  of  the  good,  and 
veiled  in  darkness  the  memories  of  the  past,  by  a  reckless 
forgetfulness  of  the  glory  and  the  moral  worth  and  the 
treasured  happiness  which  our  forefathers,  in  their  onward 
vision  of  the  future,  bequeathed  to  yet  unborn  genera- 
tions of  the  American  people. 

For  one,  I  believe  not  in  the  prophecies  of  political 
demagogues,  or  the  maturer  apprehensions  of  more  sober 
and  juster  men.  Every  day  increases  those  bonds  of  self- 
interest,  which  must  preserve  us  a  united  nation.  Sec- 
tional interest  must  yield,  and  will  yield,  and  general 
sacrifices  will  be  made,  when  the  periods  of  the  greatest 
excitement  come.  Mutual  concession,  as  in  times  past, 
shall  save  us ;  and  the  God  who  led  our  armies,  and  has 
guided  us  thus  far  in  the  pathway  of  national  prosperity 
and  happiness,  ought  to  receive,  in  view  of  the  onward 
probabilities  of  our  continued  union,  the  devout  acknow- 
ledgment of  every  American  heart. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  101 

The  transition  of  thought  from  one  subject  to  another 
is  quicker  than  the  passages  of  light  from  one  electric 
cloud  to  its  fellow.  We  fly  from  the  grave  to  the  light, 
from  the  sad  to  the  joyous,  from  the  private  to  the  public, 
and  the  contrary.  And  are  there  not  other  and  private 
musings  for  me,  while  gazing  on  the  Aquila — the  constel- 
lation of  the  Eagle  ?  Yes,  I  do  remember  me  of  summer 
and  autumn  hours,  when  I  have  wandered  through  the 
path  of  the  thick  wood,  and  rustled  the  leaf  when  no 
other  foot  was  near,  and  bounded  down  the  ravine  and 
the  steep  declivity  to  the  lawn,  which  stretches  along  the 
most  romantic  spot  of  the  Connecticut.  And  then,  I  have 
traced  my  away  along  its  green  bank  or  sandy  shore,  and 
paused  to  look  upon  the  still  bosom  of  the  silver  stream 
that  lay  sleeping  like  a  lake  among  these  highlands,  and 
almost  the  only  highlands  of  this  lovely  stream.  Ere 
long,  if  I  saw  him  not  already  perched  upon  an  old  oaken 
limb  in  his  solitary  home  of  the  high  rock,  I  would  soon 
catch  the  image  of  a  gliding  eagle  moving  in  solemn  and 
slow  dignity  up  the  reflecting  stream ;  and  one  glance 
above  it  would  give  me  to  recognise  my  old  familiar  friend 
on  his  return  to  his  perch,  far  up  on  the  almost  perpendi- 
cular slant  of  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream.  It  seemed 
but  a  sling's  throw  where  that  old  eagle  was  wont  so  oft  and 
so  long  to  sit.  And  here  we  have  often  sat,  and  long 
have  looked  at  each  other,  as  familiar  friends.  It  seemed 
always  to  me,  as  if  that  bird  could  read  my  own  heart, 
and  sympathize  with  its  loneliness.  I  had  learned  to  love 
that  solitary  bird,  and  to  me  he  was  not  wild.  May  I 
find  thee  still,  my  old  friend,  at  thy  hill-home,  on  my  re- 
turn. And  if  thou  hast,  as  I  have  sometimes  thought  thou 
hadst,  a  fellow-feeling  for  a  lonely  heart,  we  will  again 
commune  with  each  other,  and  think  of  our  mutual  wan- 
derings to  other  climes  during  our  parting,  and  be  happy 
again  to  find  our  olden  summer  and  autumn  homes.  My 
old  friend,  may  I  find  thee  there.* 

*  It  was  a  welcome  coincidence  to  the  writer,  on  his  return,  as 
he  glided  down  the  Connecticut,  that  the  old  eagle,  at  the  point 
alluded  to,  was  seen  scaling  in  the  clear  ether  above;  and  seemed 
to  slant  his  graceful  pinions  in  kind  and  courteous  welcome,  as  he 
kept  his  way  high-up  and  ahead  of  the  steamer,  until  he  was  lost 

9* 


102  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

It  is  now  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  I  have 
just  come  from  the  deck,  where  I  have  been  witnessing 
the  double-reefing  of  the  topsails.  The  day  has  been 
squally ;  and  to-night  the  wind  whistles  through  the  rig- 
ging of  the  ship  in  notes,  which  tell  how  many  a  poor 
mariner  a  single  gale  may  destine  never  more  to  see 
country  and  home. 

It  is  indeed  a  fine  sight,  to  witness  a  noble  frigate  madly 
dashing  through  the  billows,  as  if  in  defiance  of  the  dark 
surges  which  roll  by  her,  and  with  supreme  contempt  for 
the  winds  which  howl,  in  murmurs  of  the  sea-moan,  across 
her  decks ;  and  at  the  same  moment,  one  hundred  of  her 
men  lying  out  upon  her  yards,  to  clip  the  wings  of  the  too 
nimble  bird  by  knotting  the  reefs  in  her  bellowing  canvass, 
and  when  a  landsman  would  deem  their  hold  upon  a  yard- 
arm  a  matter  of  impossibility,  in  the  impetuosity  of  the 
gale.  To  me  such  a  scene  is  deeply  exciting.  Since  we 
have  been  out,  on  no  previous  occasion  has  the  Columbia 
more  than  single-reefed  her  top-sails.  Most  of  the  time 
she  has  been  carrying  royals,  topgallant-sails,  and  stud- 
ding-sails. The  winds  have  been  favorable,  and  the  frig- 
ate's cutters  could  have  performed  the  course  in  safety. 
I  should  be  considerably  disappointed  not  to  witness  a  few 
bona  fide  gales  during  our  cruise.  And  so  firm  is  my  con- 
fidence in  the  stanch  qualities  of  our  ship,  that  I  appre- 
hend that  I  could  have  no  fear,  in  the  circumstances  of  a 
hurricane  at  sea.  The  fresh  gale  of  this  squally  night, 
which  is  driving  us  onward,  hardly  changes  the  action  of 
our  vessel  from  her  usual  motion ;  and  as  I  sit  at  my  wri- 
ting-desk in  my  every  way  comfortable  and  snug  little 
room,  at  this  moment,  no  one  who  had  not  been  on  deck 
would  suppose  that  a  mimic  gale  was  raging  over  the  dark 
deep,  and  driving  its  fleecy  sheets  of  mists  over  a  sea, 
lashed  into  a  wild  commotion  of  frenzy  and  foam.  And 
in  a  neighboring  state-room,  three  or  four  gentlemen  are 
holding  their  evening  tete-a-tete  about  Lord  Byron,  and 
other  worthies  and  unworthies,  as  pleasantly  as  if  they 


among  the  olden  trees,  where  we  had  often  met,  and  with  kindly 
feelings,  in  former  days.  What  trifles,  sometimes,  will  originate 
overwhelming  emotions ! 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  103 

were  conversing  in  the  ampler  and  motionless  parlor  of  a 
land-home.  But  here  we  are,  bounding  carelessly  over 
the  blue  surge,  as  if  our  ship  were  the  very  personification 
of  the  wave  and  the  gale,  which  for  the  last  few  hours  has 
been  careering  over  the  high  seas,  and  robing  the  ocean  in 
its  sombre  and  white  of  whirling  mists  and  cascading  foam. 

An  Extract. — "  In  your  letter  you  speak  of  your  love  of 
home,  and  unwillingness  to  leave  it  for  society  abroad. 
From  my  own  wanderings,  you  might  think  differently  of 
my  taste.  But,  not  so.  I  only  go  the  world  around,  that 
home,  hereafter,  may  have  its  undisturbed  sweets.  Surely 
do  I  know  that  the  mere  thing  of  travelling  has  but  little 
charm  in  it  for  me ;  but  to  see  the  world  as  it  is,  and  to 
cease  to  look  at  it  through  the  imagination,  has  always  been 
an  object  with  me  ;  and  without  it,  I  might  never  be  con- 
tented, even  with  my  contented  disposition.  But  HOME — 
there  is  indeed  a  charm  in  that  dear  word.  I  love  every 
letter  of  the  monosyllable  for  the  hallowed  associations, 
which,  when  blended,  the  word  awakens.  And  E.  once, 
was  to  me  a  short  home.  To  you,  may  it  ever  prove, 
while  it  shall  be  so  happy  as  to  possess  you,  a  sweet, 
happy  home.  Tell  little  Rosa,  that  Mr.  T.  loves  her  as 
much  as  ever ;  and  hopes  that  she  and  her  mother  may 
ever  be  protected  and  blessed  by  "  our  Father,  who  art  in 
heaven." 

JULY  4th,  1838. 

A  Naval  Toast. — Our  whole  counfry :  As  one  dark  sea- 
surge  succeeds  another  but  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
ocean,  so  may  the  waves  of  sectional  jealousies  in  our  land, 
only  agitate  to  perpetuate  our  union. 

"A  man  overboard  !"  is  a  frequent  cry  and  occurrence, 
at  sea.  It  awoke  a  few  moments  since,  from  our  deck. 
At  such  a  moment,  if  the  winds  be  not  so  high  as  to  pre- 
vent it,  the  mainsail  is  hauled  up — the  ship  thrown  aback 
— and  her  progress  thus  checked,  the  boats  are  lowered 
and  search  made  for  the  man  overboard.  All  this  opera- 
tion had  been  gone  through,  when  it  was  discovered  that 
the  seaman  had  fortunately  caught  the  end  of  some  rope, 
which,  by  some  oversight,  was  trailing  in  the  water,  and 


104          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

thus  saved  the  man,  though  very  much  endangering  the 
back  of  some  negligent  lubber  whose  duty  it  was  to  keep 
every  line  in  its  place. 

The  John  Adams  was  on  our  larboard  beam,  at  the 
time,  and  at  no  great  distance  from  us.  Every  motion  of 
each  vessel  is  so  narrowly  watched  by  the  quarter-masters, 
with  their  glasses  always  in  their  hands,  that  no  movement 
of  either  is  long  unobserved  by  the  other.  The  boat  of 
the  Adams  was  in  the  water  almost  as  soon  as  our  own, 
on  the  supposition,  from  our  action,  that  a  man  was  over- 
board ;  and  the  boats  from  the  two  ships  soon  neared  each 
other  abaft  the  frigate  ;  but  instead  of  extending  their  dis- 
tance until  they  were  lost  to  our  sight,  for  a  drowning  man, 
they  were  now  endeavoring  to  find  the  life  buoys,  which, 
as  the  first  thing,  on  the  cry  of  a  man  overboard,  are  cut 
from  the  stern  of  the  ship.  Though  it  had  been  dusk  for 
an  hour,  the  broad  beams  of  the  full  moon  threw  over  the 
waters  a  flood-way  of  light,  by  which  the  boats  at  length 
were  fortunately  able  to  discover  the  life  buoys,  and  return 
to  the  ships.  Again  we  were  on  our  way  of  foam  ;  and 
the  succeeding  morning  being  the  Sabbath,  made  the  text 
of  the  discourse  for  the  day  peculiarly  appropriate,  in  view 
of  the  incident  of  the  preceding  evening,  as  it  always  is  in 
view  of  the  brevity  and  the  casualties  of  life  : — "  Behold, 
NOW  is  the  day  of  salvation" 

A  SISTER'S  LOVE. 

I  have  wept  to-day,  in  memory  of  one,  dear  indeed  for 
her  beautiful  character  and  devoted  love.  I  thought  of  her 
last  words  as  she  said,  "  My  mind  is  almost  gone — brother, 
you  will  take  care  of  me — will  you  not  ?"  What  is  there 
like  a  sister's  love  ?  What  memory  so  gentle  and  affecting 
as  that  which  recalls  her  tenderness,  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  she  waits  not  to  greet  your  return,  as  once  she 
waited,  when  you  had  wandered  from  the  family  mansion? 
How  do  you  see  her,  as  she  moved  in  every  path — through 
every  room — adjusting  the  flowers  in  the  parterre,  and 
arranging  the  fresh-culled  vase  upon  the  mantel-piece  of 
the  parlor,  and  the  table,  and  the  toilet !  And  how  do  you 
regret  that  your  heart,  ever  kind,  was  not  more  kind — and 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  105 

your  ever  delicate  attention,  was  not  yet  more  delicate  ? 
And  when  you  have  been  an  invalid,  who  was  it  that 
watched,  with  the  stillest  breath  and  the  gentlest  step, 
around  your  bedside  and  over  your  pillow '(  And  who, 
with  the  softest  hand,  has  smoothed  your  pallid  brow,  and 
poured  forth  the  stream  of  sympathy  from  a  filling  eye, 
when  your  own  hath  languished,  and  your  heart  was  faint- 
ing ?  Oh  !  it  is  a  sister's  love,  that  will  never  tire — it  is  a 
sister's  love,  that  will  never  weary  nor  complain,  though 
you  forget,  in  your  debility,  which  makes  you  a  child 
again,  and  as  an  infant,  helpless  ;  and  often  like  an  infant 
and  a  child,  complaining  and  impatient.  But  she,  when 
others  sleep  and  the  watchers  faint,  steals  to  your  couch 
and  softly  whispers  the  words  of  comfort,  and  gives  to 
you  your  simple  remedies  as  no  other  hand  (save  your  mo- 
ther's) presents  them.  And  if  you  are  convalescent,  whose 
smile  is  so  cheerful — whose  step  at  your  call  is  so  fleet — 
whose  invention,  for  your  taste,  is  so  varied  ?  And  when 
again  you  breathe  the  pure  air  of  the  window  and  the 
piazza,  and  at  length  seek  the  field,  who  so  gentle,  so  assidu- 
ous, and  so  much  your  welcome  companion  as  she,  who 
has  laughed  with  you,  and  wept  with  you,  and  nourished 
you,  and  read  for  you,  and  prayed  for  you,  and  suffered 
for  you,  but  only  suffered  half  of  what  she  gladly  would 
have  suffered,  if  your  happiness  might  have  been  increased. 
Surely  do  I  pity  him  who  has  no  sister — and  more  than 
abhor  him,  who  has  one  and  loves  her  not.  But  thou, 
gentle,  dearest,  unobtrusive,  retiring,  and  affectionate  E., 
thou  art  gone  !  And  at  thy  wintry  tomb,  but  lately  made, 
have  I  wept;  and  memory  yet  breaks  the  heart  at  the 
recollection  of  thy  lovely  and  modest  virtues,  thy  change- 
less Christian  character,  and  thy  devoted,  ceaseless,  and 
holy  love. 

Last  night,  the  South  American  coast  was  in  sight ;  and 
this  noon,  the  lighthouse,  on  the  bold  bluff  of  Cape  Frio, 
bears  northwest  one  point  north,  and  distant  about  seven 
miles.  We  have  been  standing  along  the  coast  during  the 
morning,  while  the  land  has  exhibited  the  appearance,  in 
its  dusky  distance,  of  a  chain  of  dark  barren  islands.  We 
shall  soon  double  Cape  Frio,  as  we  stand  up  north  and 
westerly  for  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  which  is  distant 


106          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

about  sixty  miles  from  the  light  on  the  bold  cape.  This 
lighthouse  is  a  very  picturesque  object,  elevated  upon  the 
highest  cone  of  several  eminences,  which  form  the  eleva- 
ted ground  of  the  point.  In  its  high  position  and  distance 
from  us,  it  looks  as  if  one  might  measure  its  length  with 
his  thumb  and  finger,  so  small  is  it  in  comparison  with  the 
height  of  the  mountain  rock,  on  which  it  is  perched  ;  and 
resembles  one  of  the  ever-recurring  watch-towers  of  the 
olden  Moors,  seen  along  the  mountain-heights  in  the  Medi- 
terranean. 

It  was  kind  in  the  officer  of  the  deck  to  send  for  me,  in 
the  evening,  to  witness  the  glorious  moon,  wading,  in  her 
path  of  light,  through  a  bank  of  clouds  piled  one  upon  an- 
other, and  coloring,  with  gold,  the  fleecy  vapors,  banked  in 
the  west.  Our  ship  was  gliding  easily  through  the  blue 
waters,  with  the  courses  hauled  up,  and  the  top-sails  sin- 
gle-reefed, with  the  point  of  our  destination  in  view,  but 
the  hour  was  too  late  to  make  the  entrance  of  the  harbor 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro  to-night.  The  Columbia  seemed  con- 
scious of  her  unusual  leisure,  on  her  hitherto  untiring  course, 
and  rested  in  gentle  movement  on  the  slightly  ruffled  sea, 
until  the  earliest  light  of  the  coming  morning  should  break 
upon  her,  for  her  entrance  through  the  beautiful  pass  called 
Pao  de  Assacar,  which  lets  in  from  the  sea,  into  the  ex- 
panded and  mountain-bound  waters  that  constitute  the  har- 
bor of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  I  never  before  have  witnessed 
such  a  moon-lit  scene.  The  brilliant  Dian  seemed,  to- 
night, to  be  abroad  in  her  golden  chariot,  for  the  reflection, 
on  her  way,  tinged  the  clouds  as  deeply  as  the  sun  some- 
times gilds  the  east,  when  the  retiring  wheels  of  his  day- 
car  recede  deep  into  the  western  ocean. 

Lieutenant  W.,  with  Lieutenant  P.,  was  on  the  horse- 
block. I  joined  them,  and  together  we  gazed  on  the  moon, 
now  edging  a  long  pile  of  cumuli-clouds,  with  brilliant  and 
colored  light ;  and  now  appearing  half  above  the  gilded 
bank,  like  a  sultana,  pillowed  on  her  couch  of  gold  and 
silver.  We  gazed  at  her  varied  beauties,  yet  more  beau- 
tiful in  every  new  movement,  as  she  changed  her  attitudes 
of  grace,  and  freely,  from  her  own  loveliness,  gave  reflected 
beauty  to  all  about  her. 

We  talked  of  the  refinement  which  the  contemplation  of 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  107 

nature's  lovely  scenes  produces  upon  the  sensibilities  of  our 
rougher  natures.  It  makes  us  love  the  chaste — it  makes 
us  abhor  the  low  ;  it  leads  us  to  respect  ourselves,  as  we 
listen  to  the  gentle  whispers,  which  a  refinement  in  percep- 
tion and  character  wakes  persuasively  in  a  feeling  bosom. 
We  talked  of  Byron,  as  a  descriptive  poet,  ever  the  favor- 
ite of  W.,  who  now  repeated  the  lines  of  the  poet,  so  much 
and  justly  admired  for  their  beauty  and  truth  to  nature,  as 
associated  with  the  sunset  scene : 

"  Filled  with  the  peace  of  heaven,  which  from  afar 
Comes  down  upon  the  waters  ;  all  its  hues 
From  the  rich  sunset  to  the  rising  star, 
Their  magical  variety  diffuse : 
And  now  they  change  ;  a  paler  shadow  strews 
Its  mantle  o'er  the  mountains ;  parting  day 
Dies  like  a  dolphin,  whom  each  pang  imbues 
With  a  new  color,  as  it  gasps  away, 
The  last  still  loveliest,  till — 'tis  gone — and  all  i^  gray." 

Our  worthy  Master  came  up,  and  for  once  (I  had  never 
before  seen  him  sentimental,  only  when  singing  love-dit- 
ties to  himself)  said,  "  Could  I  but  have  a  true  description 
of  that  scene"  looking  directly  at  the  moon,  " I  would 
send  it  in  an  envelope  to  the  north."  Well,  Master,  may 
thy  bridal-night  be  as  fair  and  gorgeous  as  this  ;  and  thine 
onward  skies  clear  of  all  clouds  that  can  threaten  diminu- 
tion to  aught  thou  hopest  of  happiness  and  love. 

ENTRANCE  INTO  RIO  HARBOR. 

We  came  through  the  narrow  pass  which  forms  the 
inlet  from  the  ocean  into  the  expanded  harbor  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  Thursday  the  10th  July.  This  pass  is  exceedingly 
striking,  grand,  and  beautiful.  It  may  be  a  mile  wide, 
but  seems  like  a  creek  only,  in  breadth,  as  it  runs  between 
the  high  bluff  of  the  sugar-loaf,  which  rises  more  than  one 
thousand  feet,  on  the  left,  with  the  fort  and  high  moun- 
tain-side on  the  right.  The  evening  sea-breeze  occurring 
regularly  here,  a  ship  stands  boldly  in,  passing  beneath 
the  fortified  ramparts  on  either  side  of  the  narrow  entrance; 
and  in  a  few  moments  more,  she  lies  in  an  expanded  basin 
of  water,  surrounded  by  an  amphitheatre  of  hills,  with 


108          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

their  thousand  cones,  far  off  and  near,  high  up  and  low  ; 
and  their  bases  studded  here  with  village  and  there  with 
villas;  and  there  again  and  most  conspicuously  on  the 
western  range,  lies  the  city — the  white,  the  panoramic, 
and  mountain-side  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

Our  anchor  had  run  out  its  length  of  cable  but  a  mo- 
ment, when  boats  from  the  English  and  French  ships  of 
war  were  alongside  the  Columbia  with  an  officer  from 
each,  to  tender  the  compliments  of  their  several  command- 
ers to  our  Commodore,  and  proffering  any  civility  and 
assistance  which  might  be  acceptable.  This  is  usage  and 
form  ;  and  is  often  frank  and  sincere  as  it  is  ceremonious. 

Our  ships  had  been  telegraphed  during  the  morning  ; 
and  a  boat  from  the  U.  S.  sloop  of  war  Fairfield  had  pull- 
ed out  the  harbor  to  meet  us;  and  before  we  had  reached 
our  anchorage  ground,  a  salute  from  the  Fairfield  was 
fired.  It  was  soon  returned.  The  next  day  salutes  were 
exchanged  with  all  the  ships  in  port  and  the  municipal 
authorities.  On  succeeding  days,  when  visited  by  the  dif- 
ferent commanders,  English  and  others,  and  the  American 
Charge,  salutes  were  fired,  which  were  reciprocated  to 
the  Commodore,  on  his  return  visits. 

At  sundown  I  stood  upon  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, contemplating  the  scene  around  us.  The  ship's 
decks  had  been  cleared,  and  all  was  now  at  rest.  The 
bay  was  sprinkled  with  the  men-of-war  of  different  nations, 
at  some  distance  from  each  other  ;  and  at  our  left,  as  our 
ship  was  then  swinging,  lay  the  beautiful  city  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro.  The  waters  around  us  slept  like  the  still  bosom 
of  a  mountain  lake,  unrippled  as  it  drank  in  the  reflected 
loveliness  of  a  serene — how  serene  a  sky  !  It  was  like  the 
earliest,  and  the  mildest,  and  the  loveliest  eve  of  autumn, 
at  the  north,  with  the  ever-green  foliage  of  the  mountain- 
side of  the  south — for  this  is  the  winter  month  of  the 
summer-winter  of  the  southern  tropics.  And  we  had  just 
made  another  point  of  our  cruise,  and  anchored  amid  so 
much,  and  so  lovely,  and  so  enchanting  a  display  of  beauti- 
ful nature  around  us.  It  was  sunset.  The  music  of  our 
own  ship  awoke  ;  and  down  the  royal  yards,  and  ensign, 
and  pennant  had  come ;  and  all  was  still  again  on  deck, 
save  a  few  of  the  officers  on  the  quarter-deck,  gazing  on 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          109 

the  mellow  and  lovely  scene  around  us.  I  had  placed 
myself  on  the  arm-chest  of  the  quarter-deck  ;  and  while 
I  leaned  against  the  hammock-cloths,  gazing  over  the  lar- 
board quarter  of  the  tafterel,  the  sweet  and  subdued  music 
of  a  full  band  of  a  Brazilian  man-of-war,  lying  not  a  great 
way  at  the  stern  and  at  the  windward  of  us,  came  softly 
over  the  water,  in  its  wild  and  magic  strains.  I  listened 
apart  from  the  rest ;  and  was  carried  far,  far  back  to  those 
whom  I  had  left.  A  second  melody  came  floating  over 
the  ripple- wave  as  the  band  continued  its  ever-melancholy 
and  subdued  strains,  on  their  brass  instruments.  I  had 
placed  my  elbow  upon  the  tafferel,  and  bowed  my  head, 
and  wept.  Once  more  the  music  awoke.  Now,  it  was 
the  evening  vesper,  and  the  bell  of  the  ship  chimed  in 
with  the  sacred  harmony.  Surely,  if  ever  prayer  sincere 
awoke  for  those  I  love,  it  was  borne  to  heaven  this  night. 


SECTION  V. 

RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 

Visit  to  the  shore.  The  Morning  Mass.  Ramble  up  Rua  do  Cas- 
tello.  View  from  the  hill.  Imperial  Chapel.  Te  Deum.  Idem 
in  Greece.  Dine  with  the  English  Chaplain.  Visit  to  Mr.  Wright. 
The  American  Charge  d'Affaires.  Ride  to  the  Botanical  Garden. 
Lord  Hood's  Nose.  Museum.  Doctor  J.  J.  Prestina.  Call  on 
the  Chaplain  of  H.  B.  M.  ship  Stag.  British  and  American  Navy. 
Commodore  Read's  Dinner  to  the  English  Officers.  The  Author 
preaches  in  the  English  Chapel.  Its  worship,  in  contrast  with 
the  scene  at  the  Imperial  Chapel.  Funeral.  Last  evening  in  the 
beautiful  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Associations.  Passage  out 
the  Harbor. 

TO-DAY  I  visited  the  shore,  with  the  single  purpose  of 
wandering  at  random  through  the  town,  and  to  mark  the 
floating  multitude  of  the  streets,  presuming  that  I  should 
have  ample  time,  during  our  stay  at  Rio,  to  analyze  the 
peculiarities  of  the  people,  and  observe  for  rny  own  gra- 
tification at  least,  their  institutions,  and  public  and  domestic 
economy.  It  is  said  to  be  a  difficult  thing  for  a  foreigner 

10 


110          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

to  gain  access  to  the  Brazilian  families.  But  I  apprehend 
the  difficulty  only  lies  in  the  want  of  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Portuguese  language,  and  of  letters  of  introduc- 
tion from  mutual  friends. 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  the  stranger  as  he  steps 
upon  the  shore  at  Rio,  is  the  immense  number  of  slaves 
engaged  in  the  labors  of  carrying  the  merchandise  of  the 
country,  apparently  native-born  Africans ;  and  then,  the 
many  well-dressed  mixed  bloods,  and  equivocal  bloods, 
and  many  unequivocal  blacks,  well-dressed,  and  all,  ap- 
parently, constituting  part  of  the  free  and  bona  fide  society 
of  the  city.  And  now  and  then  you  see  a  well-dressed 
female  of  the  same  equivocal  relationships,  with  a  shawl 
or  a  veil  elevated  upon  a  wide  and  high  comb,  and  drop- 
ping upon  the  shoulders. 

The  dark-faced  slaves  are  hurrying  on  at  the  rate  of  a 
slow  trot,  in  small  squads,  with  bags  of  coffee  or  other 
burdens,  on  their  heads,  which  they  are  bearing  to  the 
boats  of  loading  vessels,  or  to  the  storehouses  for  deposit. 
Then,  you  mark  the  Frenchman,  of  darker  complexion 
than  of  northern  climes,  and  the  purer  blooded  and  lighter 
faced  Brazilian-Portuguese — and  now,  an  Englishman — 
and  now  an  American,  with  their  usual  and  several  char- 
acteristics. A  moment  more,  and  by  you  dashes  a  small 
vehicle,  with  the  proportions  of  an  old-fashioned  gig  for 
its  top,  and  the  ponderous  wheels  of  a  stage-coach  for  its 
rollers,  attached  to  four  mules,  with  a  black  in  livery,  upon 
the  fore  nigh  animal,  wearing  a  high  leather  cap  resem- 
bling a  fire  bucket  bottom  upwards,  with  a  red  flannel  or 
velvet  band  about  it,  and  with  boots  that  come  above  the 
knees,  and  a  pair  of  spurs,  for  all  the  world,  like  the  end- 
iron  of  the  tongue  of  an  ox-cart,  for  its  weight  and  propor- 
tions. Heaven  forfend  us  from  such  an  equipage,  exclaims 
one,  as  he  hops  into  the  door  of  the  neighboring  shop  as 
the  nondescript  passes  by  him,  to  the  endangering  of  the 
limb  and  life  of  the  foot-passenger  through  these  pent  up 
and  narrow  streets.  These  vehicles,  however,  are  not 
frequent,  and  are  generally  the  establishments  afforded 
one  from  the  livery  stables.  Again  you  meet,  as  before, 
another  line  of  half  a  dozen  blacks,  with  bags  of  coffee 
on  their  heads,  trotting  through  the  street  at  the  monoto- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  Ill 

nous  sound  of  their  leader's  voice,  in  which  at  intervals, 
and  as  a  chorus,  they  all  join  ;  or,  at  the  sound  of  a  jing- 
ling basket,  which  some  one  of  the  group  carries  beside 
his  ponderous  burden,  and  shakes  with  his  right  or  left 
hand,  as  he  angles  his  naked  elbows  in  common  with  his 
fellows.  From  every  pore  issues  the  free  perspiration, 
and  streams,  in  no  very  small  rivulets,  down  their  bony 
and  naked  shoulders  and  shining  backs. 

I  wandered  up  the  Rua  do  Castello  to  the  top  of  the  hill, 
upon  which  an  olden  castle  once  stood,  and  where  the 
wrecks  of  the  fortification  still  exist.  From  this  point  the 
whole  bay  is  commanded — the  range  of  conic  mountains 
on  the  east,  north,  and  west — the  city  of  Prior  Grande  op- 
posite Rio — and  the  greater  part  of  the  city  of  Rio  itself 
at  your  feet.  The  view  is  very  fine.  But  the  poetry  of 
this  beautiful  hill  itself,  as  one  contemplates  it  from  the 
ship,  vanishes  when  one  has  ascended  to  its  top.  The  ba- 
nana and  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  and  occasional  shrubs,  seen 
from  the  bay,  as  they  stud  the  hill  and  seem  to  embower 
the  buildings  as  they  rise  one  above  another,  no  longer 
conceal  the  ruins,  and  the  rubbish,  and  the  old  walls,  and 
the  olden  everything,  as  you  look  into  the  miserable  yards 
of  the  dwellings  in  the  neighborhood  beneath  you.  But 
as  you  gaze  over  the  city,  and  on  the  bay,  and  on  the  sur- 
rounding amphitheatre  of  mighty  mountains,  which  inhem 
the  vast  basin  of  the  harbor,  like  a  mountain-lake,  sprink- 
led with  ships  of  war  from  almost  all  the  navies  of  the 
earth,  and  with  merchantmen  of  every  nation  and  people 
— whalers,  and  slavers,  and  traders  resting  on  their  several 
errands — you  have  a  charm  which  compensates  for  the  lost 
vision,  which  the  eye  had  taken  in  when  contemplating 
the  Castle  Hill  from  the  deck  of  the  Columbia. 

Towards  evening,  I  went  to  the  imperial  chapel,  a 
building  with  high  ceiling,  and  a  range  of  private  boxes 
in  the  upper  story,  so  arranged  as  to  allow  the  occupant 
to  contemplate  the  ceremonies  and  the  crowds  below,  and 
hung  in  front  with  drawing  curtains.  The  building  is 
decorated,  as  usual,  with  Catholic  images,  which,  so  far  as 
I  have  yet  seen,  are  ever  disgusting  to  good  taste,  being 
generally  composed  of  wax  or  painted  wood,  dusty  and 
tinselled,  and  decorated  with  robes  and  halos  in  such  a 


112  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

manner  that  one  would  suppose  that  no  eye  but  the  rab- 
ble's could  regard  them  as  ornamental.  None  of  the 
buildings  of  Rio,  and  least  of  all  the  imperial  palace,  can 
boast  any  thing  as  specimens  in  architecture.  The  palace 
is  but  an  extension  of  only  tolerably  decent  private  dwell- 
ings. 

A  single  individual  was  within  the  silent  building  as  I 
entered  the  vacant  and  solitary  nave  of  the  church,  and 
advanced  up  to  the  far-in  altar.  The  tapers  were  burn- 
ing brightly,  but  no  whisper  was  heard  within  the  spacious 
walls,  and  the  solitary  individual  stood  listless  in  a  cross- 
passage,  which  led  into  the  interior  of  the  building  to  ad- 
jacent rooms.  I  passed  him,  and  advanced  within  the 
railing  of  the  altar,  and  opened  the  quarto  volume  con- 
taining the  services  of  the  church.  It  was  not  unaccept- 
able to  turn  at  once  to  the  familiar  and  beautiful  Te  Deum, 
which  carried  me  back  to  other  hours,  though  I  perused 
it  in  the  language  of  its  original : 

TE   DEUM  LAUDAMUS. 

Te  Deum  laudamus  ;  te  Dominum  confitemur. 

Te  aeternum  Patrem  ;  omnis  terra  veneratur. 

Tibi  omnes  Angeli ;  tibi  coeli,  et  universae  potestates  : 

Tibi  Cherubim  et  Seraphim ;  incessabili  voce  proclamant, 

Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Dominus  Deus  Sabaoth. 

Pleni  sunt  coeli  et  terra,  majestatis  gloriae  tuae. 

Te,  gloriosus  Apostolorum  chorus  ; 

Te,  Prophetarum  laudabilis  numerus  ! 

Te,  Martyrum  candidatus  laudat  exercitus. 

Te,  per  orbem  terrarum,  sancta  confitetur  Ecclesia. 

Patrem  immensae  majestatis ; 

Venerandum  tuum  verum  et  unicum  Filium. 

Sanctum  quoque  Paracletum  Spiritum. 

Tu  Rex  gloriae,  Christe. 

Tu  Patris  sempitemus  et  Filius. 

Tu  ad  liberandum  suscepturus  hominem  ;  non  horruisti  Virginus 
uterum. 

Tu  devicto  mortis  aculeo ;  aperuisti  credentibus  regna  ccelorum. 

Tu  ad  dexteram  Dei  sedes,  in  gloria  Patris. 

Judex  crederis  esse  venturus. 

Te  ergo  qusesumus,  tuis  famulis  subveni ;  quos  pretioso  sanguine 
redemisti. 

^Eterna  fac  cum  sanctis  tuis  !  in  gloria  numerari. 

Salvum  fac  populum  tuum  Domine  ;  et  benedic  haereditati  tuse. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  113 

Et  rege  eos  ;  et  extolle  illos  usque  in  seternum. 
Per  singulos  dies,  benedicimus  te 

Et  lauctemus  nomen  tuum  in  saeculum,  et  in  saeculum  saeculi. 
Dignare  Domine  die  isto,  sine  peccato  nos  custodire. 
Miserere  nostri  Domine  ;  miserere  nostri. 

Fiat  misericordia  tua  Domine  super  nos,  quemadmodum  speravi- 
mus  in  te. 

In  te  Domine  speravi  ;  non  confunda  in  aeternum.* 

A  sharp,  hissing  sound,  which  I  knew  to  come  from  the 
solitary  individual  before  alluded  to,  reached  my  ear  as 
an  admonition  for  attention,  when  he  beckoned  that  others 
were  approaching;  and  in  a  moment  afterwards,  eight  or 
ten  priests,  in  their  appropriate  robes,  entered  from  the 
passage-way  leading  from  the  interior  of  the  building.  I 
retained  my  place  until  they  had  approached,  when,  with 
a  mutual  salutation,  I  passed  them,  and  took  my  place 

*  Idem  in  Greece. 

Ze  Qtbv  'Y/t*o8jicv. 

St%  Qfbv  Vfivovfjiev,  at  TOV  Kvptov  fytoAoyotty/ev. 

y^l  TOV  aluviov  HaTfoa  iraaa  q  yrj  ai/icTai. 

Kal  wdvTcs  ol  "AyysAot  «0wj>wff  (Jo&ai,  col  ol  oupavo?,  Kal  iraaai  al 

aiiTujv. 

Sot  Ta  Xepovftln  Kal  Stpa^i/x  aKaTatravaw  (puvrj  fK$oG>aivt 
"Ayios,  ayios,  "ayios  Kvptos  b  0£oj  2a/?MW0. 
IlAr/pEt?  ol  ovpavol,  ical  '/  yr\  TTJS  [t£ya\£i6rr}ros  r>js  &6&S  aov. 
2f  b  £i>So£os  r&v  '  A.iroaT6\<av  xopoff  &VV/JLVSI. 
i'e1  b  rui  KpoQriTGiv  d^o-irpeirfis  avAAoyoj  avvpvei. 
Xe  &  TU>V  Maprvpwi/  yevalo?  orpardj  dvvfivei. 
2f  dva  naffav  rriv  oiKov^fvrjv  fj  'A.yia  6/xoXoyet  'EKK\t)<r(a. 
Tlartpa  rrj$  dircpdvrov  n£ya\£i6TrjTo$. 
Tbv  T£  fff^dfffjiidv  ffov  d^nOri  Kal  ftovoyevrj  'Yt6v. 
Kat  i*i  "aytov  ITvcS/ia  rb 


Sti  TOV  ITarpdf  Attiios  (i7rapx£|£  'Yirff. 

2w  tirtxupijaas  Xvrpw<7oo-0at  rdv  avdpUTrov,  otiK  fft8£\v!-<>)  Tijv  TTJS  irapQivov 

yaaripa. 
2«  viKtjffas  TOV  QavaTov  TO  KevTpov  jjvoi%as  irdari  roTj  TrtcrroTj  T>JV 

TWV  ovpav&v. 

2t>  fK  dtl-i&v  TOV  QEOV  KaBfiffat  lv  TJJ  o6t-rj  TOV  Harprff. 
Xf  KpiTrjv  fowir  fi^tiv  iiaTtbontv. 
2oD  TOIVVV  foityufla   roTj  <ro?j  olKiTatf  /3o>?0£i,  ols  TW  rt/tt'w  ao 


iiroi)f  ev  Ty  alwviw  66%rj  ro?j  Ayt'oif  aov  avvapi6nr]0l}vai. 
2w<rov  TOV  \a6v  aov  Ko'pa,  Kal  m\6yroov  TIJV  K^rjpovofjtiav  aov, 
Ilofyavov  airouj,  Kal  lirapov  airroOs  £ij  Toi)j  alwvas. 
Ko0   iKdaTrjv  fipfpav  ncyaXf/oftiv  at. 

Kai  -npoaKwovntv  ry  <5i/(5^arf  aov  tj'j  TOV  al&va,  Kal  dg  TOV  al&va  TO 
Kt5pt£  ava/iapnyrovj  (j>v\daauv  finds  afyEpov. 

.  KJptE,  fafijero*  jf//xaj. 

^  TO  eXeos  aov  1$'  »;^of,  KaOdnep  r\\Tiioanev  iirl  <ro(. 

Ewt  wt  K.vpi6  eXxtaa,  p?i  naTaiaj(yvdtit)v  ds  TOV  al&va. 

10* 


114  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

without  the  altar.  One  of  their  number  perceiving  that  I 
had  been  perusing  their  formulas  on  the  stand  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  enclosure,  said  that  they  were  about  to  repeat 
the  service.  I  therefore  waited  to  listen  to  it,  as  their 
solitary  auditor.  They  went  through  the  vespers  with 
distinct  and  rotund  voices,  now  responding  to  each  other, 
and  now  mingling  their  several  voices  together,  and  again 
chanting,  as  is  their  custom,  parts  of  the  service  orally. 
There  was  no  music.  When  they  were  through,  I  ap- 
proached a  priest  who  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  superiors, 
and  addressed  him  in  Latin. 

It  appeared  to  me  peculiar,  and  yet  not  uninteresting, 
that  the  priests  had  gathered  here  for  their  evening  ves- 
pers, with  the  doors  opened  for  those  who  chose  to  enter 
to  say  their  evening  prayers  with  them.  But  none  came; 
and  why  should  the  mass  of  the  people  gather,  to  listen 
to  what  they  cannot  comprehend,  and  where  it  requires 
a  bell  to  tell  them  the  time  and  the  place  they  are  required 
to  kneel  ? 

As  I  left  the  imperial  chapel,  to  which  I  understood 
there  are  a  certain  number  of  priests  attached,  and  who 
must  all  be  of  noble  extraction,  and,  here,  are  alone  enti- 
tled to  wear  the  red  stocking,  I  stopped  on  my  way 
through  the  Rua  do  Ouvedor,  in  a  respectable  bookstore, 
and  was  pleased  with  the  motto  in  gilded  letters  above 
their  shelves : 

"  Vita  sine  litturis,  mors  est." 

I  thought,  in  connection  with  the  scene  I  had  but  a 
few  moments  previously  left,  that  it  was  equally  true,  that 

Religio,  sine  vita,  mors  eterna  est. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  scarcely  a  female 
of  the  higher  order  of  the  Brazilians  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
streets.  In  the  evening,  however,  they  promenade  gen- 
erally with  their  attendants  without  bonnets  or  veils. 

I  took  a  shore-boat  to  the  frigate,  as  I  had  delayed  be- 
yond the  hour  for  the  sundown  boat.  It  was  nine  o  clock 
when  I  neared  the  ship.  The  music  was  just  rolling  off 
the  tattoo.  I  ordered  the  oarsmen  to  rest  upon  their  oars. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  115 

In  a  moment,  a  red  sheet  of  flame  came  from  the  bows 
of  the  Columbia,  and  the  report  of  the  nine  o'clock  gun 
sent  its  echo  around  the  panoramic  hills,  as  if  an  answer- 
ing cannon  had  returned  its  voice  from  a  dozen  peaks. 

The  boatmen  again  applied  their  sculls,  and  "  Boat 
ahoy !"  came  as  an  authoritative  hail,  from  the  tafferel  of 
the  frigate.  "  Ay,  ay,"  was  the  reply ;  and  in  a  moment 
more  the  lanterns  were  at  the  gangway  and  side  of  the 
ship,  to  light  one  to  the  deck  of  the  Columbia. 

I  dined  on  the  13th  with  the  English  Chaplain,  attached 
to  the  British  delegation  on  shore,  and  met  the  Chaplain 
of  H.  B.  Majesty's  ship  Stag  at  the  table,  and  some  other 
of  the  English  officers.  The  Gloria  Hill,  where  the  house 
of  Mr.  M.,  the  Chaplain,  is  situated,  is  an  exquisite  spot. 
The  view  from  his  piazza  is  very  beautiful,  commanding, 
with  still  greater  interest  than  from  Castle  Hill,  the  view 
of  the  surrounding  scenery,  so  picturesque,  and  beautiful, 
and  grand,  and  varied,  in  its  complex  particulars,  as  al- 
ready described. 

On  the  preceding  evening,  I  visited  at  Mr.  Wright's, 
an  estimable  American  family,  where  most  of  the  Ameri- 
can society  were  gathered.  Mr.  Hunter,  the  Charge 
d' Affaires,  was  present,  with  other  members  of  his  family. 
He  is  a  gentleman  of  agreeable  manners,  and  read  in 
polite  literature.  Miss  H.,  his  interesting  daughter,  is  de- 
servedly admired  for  her  chaste  beauty  and  simplicity  of 
manners.  "  Kate"  her  father  says,  she  is  called  at  home, 
(Miss  H.  of  course  abroad,)  and  all  of  her  acquaintances 
will  ever  after  affirm  that  "  Kate  "  is  a  very  pretty  dimin- 
utive. Mr.  Hunter  promises  me  the  perusal  of  some 
choice  papers  of  the  date  of  Charles  the  Second,  on  the 
return  of  our  squadron,  which  are  in  the  imperial  library. 
I  have  seen,  since  the  evening  of  the  American  party,  two 
other  ladies  of  the  clan  de  I'Amerique,  and  their  acquaint- 
ance increases  rather  than  diminishes  my  interest  in  the 
American  society  of  Rio ;  and  from  one  I  shall  bear,  as  a 
decoration  of  my  little  room,  a  choice  plant,  in  memory 
of  the  donor,  and  as  one  of  nature's  prodigal  distributers 
of  the  rich  perfumes  of  flowers. 


116 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


RIDE  TO  THE  BOTANICAL  GARDEN. 

The  botanical  garden  is  deemed  one  of  the  principal 
lions  of  Rio,  distant  some  five  or  six  miles  in  the  country. 
Lieutenant  G.  of  the  Fairfield  having  made  all  due  pre- 
parations for  a  ride  thither,  I  left  the  ship  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning  ;  and  found  our  carriage  in  waiting  to  take 
us  a  ride  into  the  country.  We  preceded  the  Commodore, 
Captain  M.  and  Lieutenant  P.,  who  reached  the  garden 
soon  after  ourselves.  Our  ride  lay  along  the  beautiful 
little  bay  of  Boto  Fogo,  lined  on  its  curved  shore  by  a 
number  of  English  residences,  the  German  minister's,  and 
some  pretty  Brazilian  country-seats.  The  sugar-loaf 
mount  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor  of  Rio,  forms  a  prom- 
inent point  to  the  scenery  of  this  beautiful  little  crescent 
of  "water,  as  its  high  peak  and  base  mark  the  eastern  ter- 
mination of  the  curved  line  of  the  basin.  Its  stilly  bosom 
and  surrounding  eminences  on  this  morning  of  our  ride, 
reminded  me  of  some  of  the  still-calm  scenes  amid  the 
scenery  of  Lake  George.  The  Corcovado,  the  highest 
mount,  so  deemed,  of  all  the  surrounding  peaks  of  this 
mountainous  landscape,  was  above  our  head  son  our  right, 
as  we  drove  on  through  the  pathway,  lined  on  either  side 
with  the  cocoa-nut  and  banana  and  tamarind  trees,  and 
partly  on  our  left  and  often  in  our  front  rose  the  peculiar 
prominence,  which,  as  I  deemed  it  as  seen  from  the  ocean, 
constitutes  "  Lord  Hood's  Nose,"  so  much  spoken  of  by 
all  who  enter  the  harbor  of  Rio,  and  which  astonishingly 
resembles  the  face  of  a  strong-featured  man  lying  upon 
his  back,  as  you  approach  the  land  to  enter  the  harbor. 
But  the  face,  to  me,  is  not  the  only  or  hardly  the  most 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  117 

striking  appearance  lined  on  the  horizon,  by  the  blending 
of  the  peaks  of  the  highlands,  which  raise  their  elevated 
cones  and  table  mountains  in  the  skies,  and  strike  with 
pleasure  the  eye  of  the  voyager  as  he  is  approaching  the 
inlet  to  the  expanded  basin,  constituting  the  harbor  of  Rio 
de  Janeiro.  All  of  the  prominences  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  are  so  blended  with  intervening  and  lower  moun- 
tains, as,  together,  to  form  the  striking  resemblance  (if 
such  realities  ever  were)  of  a  huge  giant — one  of  nature 's 
olden  monsters,  laid  out,  with  his  face  upwards,  and  em- 
balmed in  eternal  rock.  There  you  see  him,  his  forehead 
slanting  and  low,  with  his  hair  combed  back — his  nose 
prominent,  between  Roman  and  the  Aquiline — then,  his 
small  chin  and  short  neck — then,  his  elevated  chest,  with 
his  arms  folded  for  his  last  embalmment — then,  his  ex- 
tendejl  limbs,  with  the  prominent  eminence  of  the  sugar- 
loaf  mount,  1,000  feet  high,  constituting  his  up-turned 
feet,  and  in  just  keeping  with  the  other  proportions  of  this 
immense  phenomenon  of  ages  back,  till  now,  with  this 
evidence  before  us,  believed  to  have  been  fabulous.  And 
there  he  lies,  as  seen  from  the  ship,  as  she  stands  on  her 
course  to  the  nearing  land,  looking  at  the  blue  heavens, 
and  listless  to  the  roar  of  ocean,  and  the  storm,  and  the 
whirlwind,  and  the  sea-gale ;  and  there  he  shall  still  lie, 
until  one  mightier  than  he  shall  sound  the  trump  of  the 
last  angel,  and  burst  in  sunder  and  wild  dismemberment, 
his  sarcophagus  of  imperishable  granite. 

Our  ride,  the  remaining  part  of  the  way  from  Boto 
Fogo,  was  less  interesting  but  possessing  variety.  We 
reached  the  garden  after  an  hour's  drive,  and  having  order- 
ed dinner,  entered  the  grounds,  to  wander  at  leisure  through 
avenues  and  by-paths  of  the  garden,  to  observe  the  col- 
lected exotics  as  well  as  native  plants,  shrubs,  and  trees, 
and  yet  more  for  myself,  the  taste  with  which  the  grounds 
were  laid  out — all  of  which  we  had  been  assured  to  be  of 
considerable  interest,  and  promised  much  pleasure  to  the 
new  observer. 

The  grounds  which  compose  the  garden  are  irregular, 
and  form  a  flat  near  the  beach  and  beneath  the  mountain 
previously  alluded  to,  called  the  Corcovado.  At  the  en- 
trance of  the  gateway,  a  segment  of  a  small  circle  is 


118  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLP. 

swept,  with  the  gate  as  the  centre  of  the  circle,  from  the 
convex  part  of  which  four  or  five  avenues  extend,  in 
straight  lines,  which  constitute  all  the  peculiarity  of  the 
taste  here  displayed  in  the  adjustment  of  the  walks.  The 
paths  run,  afterwards,  as  convenience  directs,  through  the 
grounds,  joining  the  main  avenues.  There  is  an  annual 
appropriation  for  the  improvement  of  these  grounds,  but 
they  are  any  thing  rather  than  what  we  would  suppose 
they  should  be,  in  a  climate  and  soil  of  such  capabilities ; 
and  the  grounds  only  in  their  central  parts  evince  much 
care.  There  is  a  tasteful  bower,  however,  which  meets 
the  eye  of  the  stranger  in  his  promenade,  and  courts  him 
to  enter  within  its  ever-green  walls.  It  is  elevated  on  an 
artificial  and  turfed  mound,  some  twelve  to  fifteen  feet 
high.  The  bower  is  a  parallelogram,  and  formed  by  the 
inlacing  of  the  branches  of  the  arbor  vitae  trees,  with 
glassless  windows  inserted  in  each  pallisade  of  the  trees, 
so  as  to  form  an  opening  for  observation,  and  for  the  sweet 
gales  of  the  garden  to  quaver  through,  to  fan  the  cheek 
of  the  lady-visiter,  or  to  give  breath  to  her  rougher  com- 
panion who  may  attend  her ;  or  to  render  yet  more  pleas- 
ant the  pick-nick  coteries  which,  they  say,  often  ride  from 
town,  and  here  take  their  lunch,  and  chat  all  manner  of 
gentle  and  kind  words.  You  ascend  to  the  entrance  of 
this  ever-green  bower  by  a  flight  of  steps  cut  on  a  trunca- 
ted triangle  of  earth,  which,  like  the  mound  on  which  the 
bower  is  raised,  is  overgrown  with  perennial  grass. 

And  in  the  same  neighborhood,  beneath  two  large  tufts 
of  cane,  rising  high  and  gracefully,  and  branching  out  their 
tops  like  some  mighty  plume  of  mighty  knight,  is  a  swing, 
in  which  all  who  wish  once  more  to  live  over  one  scene 
of  their  childhood,  may  go  on  the  gentle  sweep,  and  think 
how  different  are  the  days  of  our  childhood,  from  those 
when  we  are  called  to  gaze  abroad  on  a  wild  world,  and 
to  buffet  its  wild  waves. 

We  saw  in  the  garden  a  number  of  the  tropical  plants 
and  trees  new  to  us,  and  others,  from  other  climes,  which 
before  we  had  not  seen.  The  tea  shrub  was  growing  in 
considerable  areas,  and  at  this  time  was  in  blossom.  The 
shrub  was  about  three  feet  high,  and  cultivated  in  hills  of 
a  few  shoots  each.  Then  there  was  the  clove  and  tho 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  119 

cinnamon  tree,  and  the  coffee  tree,  the  bread  tree  and  the 
jack-fruit,  which  last  is  a  striking  thing,  the  tree  growing 
as  large  as  a  forest  oak,  and  the  iru.it  hanging  from  a  stem 
that  projects  directly  from  the  body  of  the  tree  or  from 
the  largest  limb;  and  growing  to  the  size  of  a  half-bushel 
Basket,  though  generally  elongated  and  flattened,  rather 
than  perfectly  globular. 

There  were  many  other  fruits,  which  it  cannot  be  of 
interest  here  to  name  or  describe. 

We  wandered  through  the  grounds  again,  and  left  the 
garden  for  the  little  building  in  the  neighborhood,  kept 
as  a  hotel.  To  our  surprise,  the  comfortable  essentials 
of  a  good  meal  were  spread  before  us,  after  some  delay — 
our  party  now  being  constituted  of  the  Commodore,  Capt. 
M.  and  four  others.  Having  nought  else  to  do,  a  long 
time  was  lingered  away  at  the  table,  (some  two  hours  or 
more — horrible  !)  but  rendered  tolerable  in  the  lounging 
ease  of  the  gentlemen  who  composed  it,  and  the  succession 
of  unexpected  tastefuls  which  came  before  us.  Our  attend- 
ants themselves  did  not  entirely  deny  us  a  pleasure,  as  it 
was  all  so  unexpected.  "  Take  care  there,  Jose  Maria 
Cavallo,  don't  shake  that  bottle  of  port  as  you  did  the 
other."  Don  Jose  Maria,  etc.  etc.,  taking  the  hint,  thought 
he  understood  it,  and,  as  if  it  had  been  champaign  wine 
or  spruce  beer,  deemed  he  was  making  it  yet  more  spark- 
ling and  choice,  by  adding  greater  agitation  to  the  shak- 
ing he  again  gave  the  bottle. 

Our  two  carriages  drove  into  town;  and  as  we  rattled 
over  the  horrible  pavements,  the  dark,  and  the  dark,  and 
the  DARK  Brazilians  looked  from  their  balconies  and  upper 
windows  at  the  Americans  ofthefrigata  and  the  corvetta, 
as  it  was  the  evening  hour,  when  they  are  privileged  to 
gaze  on  the  passers  by,  and  be  stared  at,  without  displeas- 
ure or  displeasing  of  either  party. 

On  a  succeeding  day  I  visited  the  Museum,  which  is 
opened  gratis  for  the  people,  twice  a  week.  I  did  not  ex- 
pect to  find  a  large  or  a  greatly  varied  collection.  Neither 
the  display  of  birds  nor  minerals  was  such  as  might  have 
been  looked  for  in  other  days  of  Brazil.  The  specimens, 
however,  in  mineralogy  were  respectable,  though  very 
far  inferior  in  variety,  beauty,  and  arrangement,  to  the 


120          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

cabinet  at  New  Haven.  It  is  said  that  Don  Pedro  I.  rob- 
bed the  Museum  of  its  choicest  and  richest  materials, 
when  he  left  the  country.  Don  Pedro  II.  is  yet  a  lad  of 
twelve  or  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  though  said  to  be  a 
bright  boy  for  his  years,  will  probably  have  enough  of 
turmoil,  when  he  shall  have  reached  the  age  to  take  his 
position  for  himself  in  the  relations  of  the  state  parties, 
to  occupy  his  time  for  the  safety  of  his  crown,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  improvement  of  the  public  institutions  of 
his  imperial  dominions.  As  evidence  of  the  brightness 
of  young  Pedro,  I  was  told  by  Doctor  Prestina,  a  Portu- 
guese gentleman  of  learning,  that  he  was  familiar  with 
the  French  language,  and  had  made  considerable  profi- 
ciency in  the  English  and  Latin  ;  and  had  advanced  in 
mathematics,  and  read  a  good  deal  in  history. 

When  I  had  wandered  through  the  upper  rooms  of  the 
Museum,  which  are  small,  and  exhibit  but  few  curiosities, 
I  left  them  and  entered  an  under  apartment  of  the  same 
building.  This  lower  room  contained  a  few  specimens  in 
mechanics,  where  a  few  visiters,  like  myself,  were  now 
strolling.  I  saw  nothing,  however,  particularly  to  arrest 
my  attention  but  a  case  of  books  and  an  atlas  (a  London 
copy)  of  the  comparative  heights  and  extent  of  the  dif- 
ferent water-falls  of  the  globe.  I  had  placed  myself  in  an 
examining  posture,  but  the  atlas  was  hung  too  high  for 
convenience,  which  the  attentive  person  in  charge  of  the 
rooms  observing,  presented  himself,  and  immediately  spread 
the  atlas  before  me  on  a  table.  I  placed  my  finger  on  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  with  some  remarks  connected  with  it, 
when  a  soft  voice  at  my  side  asked,  "  And  have  you,  sir, 
seen  the  Falls  of  Niagara  ?"  with  an  intonation  that  at  once 
told  me  that  it  was  not  native. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  I  replied,  as  I  turned  and  beheld  a 
young  English  lady  leaning  upon  the  arm  of  a  gentleman- 
ly looking  man  ;  "  and  I  left  them,"  I  continued,  "  as  I 
would  part  with  a  newly  formed  acquaintance,  who  had 
greatly  contributed  to  my  pleasure — delighted  that  we  had 
met,  and  regretting  that  we  were  so  soon  to  separate." 

"  My  sister,"  continued  the  lady,  "  is  now  in  the  United 
States,  and  gives  me  such  glowing  accounts  of  what  she 
meets,  that  I  envy  her  the  fortune  to  have  enjoyed  before 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  121 

me  the  opportunity  of  visiting  North  America.  If  I  might 
induce  my  lord  here,"  said  the  lady,  gently  smiling,  and 
myself  and  her  lord  gently  bowing,  "  we  should  not  long 
delay  our  passage  to  the  United  States." 

All  Englishmen,  and  certainly  all  English  women,  are 
not  prejudiced  against  the  United  States.  And  the  time 
has  come  when  they  are  pleased  if  they  can  identify  their 
own  genealogies  as  kindred  with  those  of  the  early  wor- 
thies of  our  country. 

A  letter  from  a  Portuguese  gentleman  of  Madeira,  made 
me  acquainted  with  J.  J.  Prestina,  a  doctor  of  learning 
at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  He  visited  our  ship,  with  a  friend, 
and  pressed  me  to  accept  an  invitation  to  accompany  him, 
on  any  day  of  our  stay,  to  his  seat  in  the  country.  I  have 
postponed  this,  with  other  visits,  until  a  good  Providence 
may  return  us  to  this  port  again,  on  our  way  back  to  our 
northern  homes.  Dr.  P.  is  a  happy  specimen  of  a  Portu- 
guese gentleman,  surpassed  by  few  for  ease  and  urbanity 
of  manners.  He  is  said  to  have  accumulated  a  fortune  in 
the  practice  of  law  ;  and  in  the  revolution  of  Portugal  of 
1823,  when  many  of  her  choice  sons  had  no  alternative 
but  to  fly  to  arms  or  to  exile,  he  visited  Brazil.  With 
this  gentleman,  I  hope,  on  my  return,  to  take  several  ex- 
cursions into  the  surrounding  country,  and  to  the  neigh- 
boring islands,  which  are  said  to  be  exquisite  in  their 
scenery,  and  rich  in  their  high  state  of  cultivation. 

The  Chaplain  of  H.  B.  Majesty's  ship  Stag  having  call- 
ed upon  me,  I  reciprocated  his  visit,  and  was  invited  to 
take  a  stroll  with  him  and  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Stag, 
to  Prior  Grande.  They  would  send  a  boat  for  me. 

Between  England  and  America,  there  doubtless  will 
ever  be  the  memory  of  former  incidents,  to  serve  to  keep 
alive  the  spirit  of  jealousy  between  the  two  nations,  with 
a  spice  of  envy  on  the  part  of  the  British  people.  The 
English  had  ruled  mistress  of  the  seas,  until  their  prow- 
ess was  fairly  contested,  in  several  actions,  by  our  own 
vessels.  The  English  can  hardly  be  expected  to  yield  a 
concession  on  this  point  which  would  take  them  one  step 
from  their  self-complacent  and  proud  elevation.  And 
Americans  believe,  and  without  doubt  have  proved  to  their 
own  satisfaction,  and  to  that  of  the  world,  that  they  are  a 

11 


122          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

match — perhaps  in  their  young  thirst  for  glory,  more  than 
a  match — for  the  English,  with  equal  forces.  These  cir- 
cumstances sometimes  produce,  if  not  a  coolness  yet  a 
preserved  distance,  in  the  association  between  American 
and  British  officers  ;  while  there  is,  at  the  same  time,  no 
asperity  or  unkindness  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  either.  It 
only  prevents  the  approach  of  the  two  parties.  But  when 
they  do  meet  and  know  each  other,  there  is  no  want  of 
cordiality  in  real  feeling,  or  generous  hospitality,  and  fa- 
miliar and  well-bred  courtesy. 

On  the  evening  preceding  our  departure  from  the  har- 
bor of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Commodore  Read  gave  a  dinner 
to  the  English  officers  in  command  of  the  British  ships, 
now  in  the  harbor.  Commodore  Sulivan  has  command 
of  the  British  squadron  on  this  side  Cape  Horn  ;  and  an 
Admiral  commands  the  squadron  on  the  other.  Former- 
ly the  forces  on  either  side  of  the  Cape  were  under  the 
command  of  an  Admiral,  stationed  on  this  side  the  Cape, 
with  a  Commodore,  subject  to  his  orders,  on  the  other 
side.  The  two  forces  are  now  independent  commands. 

Commodore  Sulivan  is  an  agreeable  gentleman,  and 
made  himself  such  on  the  present  occasion ;  and  Captain 
Shepherd  I  found  sociable.  He  is  deemed  an  officer  very 
creditably  familiar  with  his  profession. 

The  Commodore's  table-plate,  and  well-served  dishes, 
always  do  him  credit  as  a  man  of  taste  ;  and  becomingly 
supports  the  respectability  of  the  government,  whom  he 
represents  in  his  honorable  commands. 

Previous  to  our  leaving  the  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
I  preached  in  the  English  chapel.  The  congregation  was 
very  respectable.  The  English  chaplain  who  has  charge 
of  the  congregation,  and  the  chaplain  of  the  Stag,  were 
present — the  former  reading  the  service. 

It  is  indeed  a  grateful  opportunity,  when  abroad,  after 
having  been  for  months  on  board  a  ship,  to  be  able  to 
mingle  in  your  own  familiar  worship  of  home,  on  shore. 
They  are  the  same  prayers  to  which  you  have  often  lis- 
tened with  a  melted  heart ;  or  which  you  yourself  have 
offered,  as  the  leader  in  the  petitions  of  hundreds  of 
others — the  same  responses,  and  the  same  psalms,  and  the 
same  chants,  and  the  same  hymns.  The  heart  goes  home 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  123 

to  kindred  and  to  native  lands ;  and  if  rightly  affected, 
goes  upward  too  in  devout  devotion  and  gratitude  to  Him, 
who  hath  blessed  and  protected  the  wanderer  on  his  course 
of  the  seas. 

The  modifications  in  our  prayer-book,  in  which  it  differs 
from  the  English  service,  strike  the  worshipper  of  the 
American  church,  but  interrupts  not  his  devotion.  It  is 
but  natural  that  the  English  should  pray  for  their  rulers, 
though  it  appears  peculiar  that  they  should  mention  them 
by  name.  And  in  the  modification  of  some  of  the  old  ob- 
solete terms,  the  omission  of  some  things,  and  leaving 
others  discretionary  on  the  part  of  the  American  clergy- 
man, where  they  are  required  to  be  gone  through  on  the 
part  of  the  English,  I  deem  to  be  in  favor  of  the  Ameri- 
can prayer-book.  And  yet  there  could  be  very  little 
objection  for  an  American  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  to  go  through  the  services  of  the  mother-church, 
before  an  English  congregation,  on  English  ground. 

Dr.  Hazlet  and  Lieutenant  Turner  accompanied  me 
from  the  ship  to  the  English  chapel.  On  our  return  we 
stopped,  as  we  were  passing,  for  a  moment,  in  the  impe- 
rial chapel.  The  services  were  nearly  concluding.  The 
music  was  powerful.  Here  they  have  two  or  three  eu- 
nuchs from  Italy,  whose  voices  mingle  with  peculiar 
effect  in  the  choir.  The  crowd  were  jammed  together, 
blacks  and  whites,  and  all  sorts  of  the  males.  The  pri- 
vate openings  in  the  second  story  on  the  sides  of  the 
building,  alluded  to  on  a  preceding  page,  were  filled  with 
Brazilian  women,  without  bonnets,  who  composed  the 
household  of  the  Emperor  and  other  Brazilian  families. 
Many  of  them  were  respectable  for  their  personal  ap- 
pearance, and  all  dressed  with  becoming  taste.  Rockets 
and  other  fire-works  were  already  arranged  in  the  street, 
at  the  door  of  the  chapel,  with  which  to  conclude  the 
ceremonies  of  a  Christian  worship !  We  had  left  the  build- 
ing, and  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance  on  our  way 
to  our  boat,  which  was  in  waiting  for  us  from  the  ship, 
when  the  match  had  been  applied,  to  the  bursting  of 
rockets  and  other  fire- works  ;  and  the  loud  reports  of  the 
exploding  crackers,  and  the  feu-de-joie,  exhibited  a  scene, 
which  we  could  not  but  identify  with  the  whole  service, 


124          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

as  a  fanciful  show — a  religious  farce — gone  through  for 
the  amusement  of  the  people. 

How  unlike  the  simple,  suppressed,  solemn  worship  of 
the  Eternal,  in  which  we  had  just  been  engaged  !  The 
Lord  was  not  in  the  whirlwind,  nor  in  the  earthquake, 
nor  in  the  fire  :  but  in  "  the  still  small  voice"  And  when 
the  prophet  heard  it,  he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle.* 
It  is  now  loo  late,  in  this  age  of  free  inquiry,  with  the 
materials  which  have  been  spread  before  us,  and  the 
scenes  which  are  yet  daily  enacting  in  Catholic  countries, 
to  pretend  an  apology,  as  if  there  were  in  the  mummeries 
and  in  the  religious  farces  of  the  papal  ceremonies,  a  ten- 
dency to  pure  morality  and  "  religion  undefiled."  In  our 
own  country,  the  Catholic  religion,  for  the  sake  of  appear- 
ances and  decency,  must  omit  much  which  is  seen  abroad. 
It  is  a  notorious  fact,  in  connection  with  Madeira  and  this 
place,  that  the  people  have  so  far  felt  the  unhappy  influ- 
ences of  the  monastic  institutions,  as  to  make  them  a 
subject  of  legislation  and  restriction.  And  common  re- 
port everywhere  says,  that  the  celibacy  of  the  corrupted 
priesthood  has  made  inroads  upon  the  domestic  peace, 
and  harmony,  and  virtue  of  the  social  compact.  And  in 
affirming  these  things,  which  modern  Catholic  legislatures 
have  themselves  affirmed,  and  in  some  measure  acted 
upon,  the  Protestant  is  declared  to  be  prejudiced,  perse- 
cuting, and  illiberal.  Pray,  are  there  none  but  Protestant 
persecutors  in  the  world  of  Christendom  ?  Until  within 
comparatively  a  few  years,  the  right  of  Christian  sepul- 
ture was  forbidden,  in  the  countries  where  Papacy  had 
the  ascendency.  And  now,  I  am  told,  that  the  English 
chapel  here  is  precluded  from  holding  their  worship  with 
the  doors  of  their  church  shut.  And  when  I  see  the  mem- 
bers of  that  church  rather  inclining  to  join  the  reviler  and 
the  blasphemer  against  the  cause  of  Protestant  missions, 
and  other  institutions  under  Protestant  influences,  I  am 
led  to  question  the  soundness  of  a  system,  which  will  lead 
to  the  union  of  sympathies  so  unlike  the  spirit  and  the 
professed  end  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  For  my- 
self, I  should  be  most  happy  that  the  Roman  church,  or 

*  1  Kings  xix.  11-13, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          125 

the  Catholic  church,  as  they  rather  choose  to  be  called, 
in  our  country,  should,  as  they  have  in  some  measure, 
reform  their  system,  retaining  the  good  and  rejecting 
the  bad ;  and  adhering  less  closely  (which  both  patri- 
otism and  religion  require)  to  the  Papacy  at  Rome.  The 
Catholic  church  in  the  United  States  is  respectable  in 
numbers,  character,  and  we  would  be  uncharitable  indeed 
not  to  suppose,  in  some  good  degree,  in  Christian  influ- 
ence. But  there  is  an  incubus  in  her  system — a  draw- 
back to  all  the  good.  There  is  ignorance  of  the  Bible, 
and  premeditated  ignorance  on  the  part  of  those  whose 
duty  it  is,  according  to  the  charter  of  all  our  hopes,  to 
dispense  "  the  word"  to  their  flocks,  which  is  able  to 
make,  and  which  will  make,  wise  unto  salvation.  And 
so  long  as  the  Bible  shall  be  kept  from  the  laity,  there 
will  be  and  there  must  be  something  bad  existing  in  the 
premises,  and  a  perpetual  wandering  from  the  essentials 
and  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  system.  It  has  been  so — it 
will  be  so.  It  is  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  truth, 
in  its  purity,  that  the  Bible  should  be  in  the  hands  of  both 
the  people  and  the  pastors,  that  the  example  of  both  may 
be  tested  by  a  common  and  the  acknowledged  standard. 

A  FUNERAL  IN  RIO. 

I  have  taken  my  last  ride  out  of  Rio,  with  Lieutenant 
G.  of  the  Fairfield.  We  went  to  the  Emperor's  country- 
residence,  and  also  called  on  most  of  the  American  fami- 
lies of  Rio.  Their  residences  are  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Emperor's  grounds,  a  short  way  into  the  country. 
Our  ride  was  exceedingly  pleasant,  and  our  calls  agree- 
able to  ourselves  at  least.  In  the  evening  we  took  tea  at 
the  Wrights',  and  prolonged  our  stay  in  the  social  circle 
of  this  amiable  family.  To-day,  the  last  we  spend  in  the 
harbor  of  Rio  for  a  long,  long  time,  I  witnessed  on  shore, 
at  four  P.  M.,  a  funeral  ceremony  of  considerable  mag- 
nificence ;  and,  as  characteristic  of  the  customs  of  this 
people,  is  worthy  of  a  nota  bene.  It  was  imposing,  and 
fully  attended.  I  was  aware  that  the  solemnities  of  a 
burial  were  to  take  place,  from  the  ringing  of  the  bells  of 
the  large  cathedral  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  square, 

11* 


126  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

into  which  the  Rua  do  Ouvedor,  the  principal  street  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  enters.  The  hearse,  drawn  by  four  white 
horses,  with  high  plumes  of  black  feathers  decking  their 
head-stalls,  had  already  reached  the  front  of  the  building, 
where  a  crowd  was  gathered,  when  I  arrived  at  the  steps 
of  the  cathedral.  I  entered  the  door  of  the  building, 
wrhere  numbers  had  arranged  themselves  in  two  lines 
leading  from  the  far-in  altar,  with  each  a  waxen  taper  in 
his  hand,  which  served  him  as  a  staff.  As  I  passed,  one 
of  these  lighted  sticks  of  wax,  reaching  quite  to  the 
shoulder,  and  about  two  inches  in  diameter,  was  handed 
to  me,  and  I  advanced  up  the  line  of  lights  to  a  vacant 
position  nearest  the  altar.  As  I  looked  down  to  the  en- 
trance of  the  cathedral,  the  two  lines  of  similar  tapers, 
each  supported  by  its  holder,  gave  forth  a  continuous 
gleam  of  light,  streaming  on  either  side  in  a  brilliant  pe- 
riphery of  an  elongated  ellipsis.  In  a  few  moments,  from 
an  adjacent  recess,  which  communicated  with  an  interior 
passage,  entered  three  richly  decorated  priests,  in  the  ha- 
biliments of  their  order,  the  central  one  supporting  a  mas- 
sive silver  cross,  and  the  two  on  either  side  bearing  a  taper 
light  in  massive  silver  candlesticks.  They  advanced 
with  twenty  priests  following  them,  with  lighted  waxen 
tapers  in  their  hands,  to  meet  the  corpse  at  the  entrance  of 
the  cathedral.  A  number  of  the  priests  I  had  before  seen 
at  the  imperial  chapel.  They  were  now  decked  in  short 
robes  of  white  lace,  falling,  like  a  roundabout,  a  little  be- 
low their  shoulders,  upon  a  lower  robe  of  black.  Beside 
these,  were  thirty  or  forty  attendants  in  black  bombazine 
canonicals,  whose  province  seemed  immediately  to  bear 
the  corpse  and  perform  the  laborious  parts  of  the  burial. 
They  all  together  advanced,  with  the  coffin,  overlaid  with 
gold  lace,  to  a  high  altar  raised  without  the  chancel,  and 
highly  gilded,  seven  feet  long  and  three  in  breadth,  upon 
which  the  deceased  was  placed.  The  services  of  the 
burial  commenced  by  the  chief  priest,  who  had  borne  the 
silver  cross  in  the  procession.  The  responses  were  loud 
and  rotund.  As  the  coffin  was  elevated  upon  the  altar,  it 
fell  apart,  by  its  peculiar  construction,  opening  from  the 
top,  by  means  of  the  split-lid,  and  dropping  either  way, 
by  hinges  on  either  side,  so  as  to  expose  half  the  body, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          127 

dressed  in  its  usual  habiliments.  The  chief  ecclesiastic 
moved  thrice  around  the  body,  sprinkling,  from  a  silver 
wand,  the  holy  water  upon  the  body,  as  he  passed  at  the 
head,  the  side,  the  feet,  and  the  side  again,  bowing  to  the 
silver  cross  as  he  passed  it,  which  was  now  elevated  at 
the  feet  of  the  altar,  without  the  chancel.  The  ceremony 
continued — when  a  strain  of  music  came  from  the  choir, 
now  in  full  chorus,  now  in  dulcet  strains,  now  in  duetto, 
and  again  in  a  chorus  that  shook  the  walls  of  the  massive 
buildings  ;  and  once  more  the  requiem  was  long,  and  soft, 
and  silent ! 

The  heavy  doors  of  a  side  passage  were  opened,  and  the 
priests  advanced  to  an  inner  court  of  death,  embracing  an 
extensive  area,  surrounded  by  high  walls.  A  colonnade 
extended  around  the  spacious  rectangle,  within  which  and 
the  wall  a  covered  pavement  ranges  around  the  square,  the 
centre  of  which  is  open  for  light  and  air.  The  procession 
of  priests  moved  on,  (the  concourse  of  the  spectators  hav- 
ing extinguished  their  lights,  and  retired  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  requiem  in  the  church,)  and  reached  the  furthest 
side  of  this  hollow  square.  They  paused  at  an  open  niche 
in  the  wall.  The  wall  is  filled  with  ranges,  five  or  six  tier 
high,  of  such  niches,  one  above  the  other,  rendering  it  a 
bulwark  of  imbedded  skeletons.  Here  the  coffin  was 
placed  upon  a  smaller  altar,  similar,  but  less  decorated  than 
the  first,  standing  without  a  rougher  pair  of  steps,  which 
rested  beneath  the  opening  in  the  wall.  Upon  this  altar 
the  coffin  was  first  placed,  by  the  attendants  in  black,  who 
had  borne  it  from  the  spacious  room  of  the  cathedral  to 
this  adjacent  court,  which  forms  a  part  of  the  same  pile  of 
building.  Then,  with  the  repetition  of  a  short  additional 
service,  the  body  was  elevated  to  the  rougher  platform, 
and  again  the  coffin  fell  and  exposed  the  body  ;  and  each 
of  the  dark-robed  men  advancing  to  the  steps,  took  a  small 
scuttle  of  quicklime,  and  ascending  the  steps,  deposited  it 
upon  the  body,  and  again  descended,  to  be  succeeded  by 
others,  until  the  unconscious  sleeper  was  imbedded  in  the 
element  which  was  soon  to  prey  in  consumption  upon  his 
yielding  dust.  It  only  remained,  in  completing  the  cere- 
mony of  the  burial,  to  place  the  body  within  the  vacant 
niche  of  the  vyall,  and  to  seal  it  in  masonry  of  lime  and 


128  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

rock,  and  to  affix  to  the  external  surface  the  number  of  the 
inwalled  vault. 

The  procession  of  priests  returned  through  the  church, 
bending  their  knees  as  they  passed  the  altar,  and  extin- 
guishing their  lights  as  they  sought  the  inner  rooms,  where 
they  unrobed,  and  replaced  their  dresses,  which  they  had 
assumed  as  appropriate  habiliments  for  the  religious  cere- 
monies of  the  burial. 

They  had  gone  ;  and  their  voices  were  heard  to  murmur 
low  in  the  inner  distance  of  the  extended  building.  And 
now,  all  was  silence.  I,  alone,  stood  in  that  spacious  hall, 
where  but  just  now  the  peals  of  music  echoed,  and  a  thou- 
sand lights  were  gleaming,  and  the  tramp  of  many  feet 
were  heard.  Mine  alone  now  lingered  ;  and  one  solitary 
taper  only  was  glimmering  on  the  altar,  in  that  vast  build- 
ing, to  keep  the  vigils  of  the  night-watch. 

I  walked  through  the  dark  passage-way  to  the  interior 
rooms — again  retraced  my  steps,  and  left  the  silent  build- 
ing, and  was  soon  on  my  way  down  the  Rua  do  Ouvedor, 
with  thoughts,  solemn  and  strange,  in  their  commingling 
of  emotions  and  sentiments,  which  these  scenes  and  their 
associations  had  awakened. 

LAST    EVE    IN    THE    HARBOR    OF  RIO. 

I  have  made  the  preceding  notes,  associated  with  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  purposely  omitting  any  excursions  into  the  inte- 
rior and  to  some  of  the  neighboring  islands,  which,  with 
visits  to  some  other  objects  and  Brazilian  families  in  the 
neighborhood,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  make,  on  my  return, 
under  the  favorable  circumstances  of  intelligent  and  gentle- 
manly Brazilian  attendance. 

But  on  this  evening  of  our  last  stay  in  this  beautiful  har- 
bor, how  many  are  the  associations  of  the  past,  which  min- 
gle with  the  present !  It  is  here,  on  the  still  bosom  of  this 
mountain-shored  basin,  sleeping  to-night  like  a  calm  lake 
among  the  hills,  where  the  winds  cannot  ruffle  it,  the  bat- 
tle-ships of  all  the  early  states  of  Europe  have  rode,  and 
for  a  moment  paused  on  their  several  courses  of  discovery, 
of  adventure,  of  merchandise,  of  war,  and  of  circumnavi- 
gation of  the  world  !  Here  the  daring  and  adventurous 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  129 

Portuguese  moored  their  tempest-tost  barks,  which  had 
first  discovered  these  and  hundred  other  shores,  as  the 
pioneers  on  the  seas,  where  the  white-spread  sails  of  other 
nations  are  now  wafted  in  the  same,  but  earlier  and  fearful 
tracks  of  the  Portuguese,  without  solicitude,  and  hardly 
with  a  memory  of  the  men  who  pointed  out  to  them  the 
paths  of  the  seas.  And  here  Magellan  paused  with  his 
little  fleet  of  five  ships,  for  a  fortnight,  whose  name  is 
immortalized  on  the  land,  as  having  first  passed  through  the 
straits  that  unite  the  northern  with  the  southern  ocean ; 
and  among  the  stars,  as  giving  an  appellation  to  the  twin 
nebula,  or  the  Magellan  clouds  in  the  southern  hemisphere. 
And  here,  in  1764,  the  Dolphin  and  the  Tamor  under 
Byron  in  chief,  and  Mouat,  in  their  circuit  of  discovery, 
moored  ;  and  De  Bougainville  followed,  after  resigning  the 
Falkland  Isles  into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish,  agreeably  to 
the  order  of  his  government.  And  on  these  same  waters, 
the  energetic  and  accomplished,  but  unfortunate  Cooke, 
with  his  companion  Banks,  whose  thirst  for  knowledge 
was  insatiable,  lay  moored  in  the  good  ship  Endeavor. 
And  they  have  all  passed  on — passed  on !  And  how  many 
others  have  come  after — and  where  now  are  they  ?  And 
we  follow  them — and  where  soon  shall  we  be,  when  others 
shall  still  follow  us,  and  like  ourselves,  and  all  who  have 
gone  before,  shall  pass  to  the  realities,  and  the  silence,  if 
not  the  forgetfulness  of  the  dead  !  But  since  the  days  of 
Magellan,  and  Vasco  de  Gama,  and  Columbus,  what  a 
revolution  has  passed  over  the  two  hemispheres  of  the 
north  and  the  south,  and  of  the  west  and  the  east !  New 
worlds,  and  fair  worlds,  if  not  in  literal  extent,  yet  in  pro- 
duction and  population,  have  been  developed;  and  the 
seas  of  the  globe  have  become  as  plain  a  pathway  to  the 
mariner  as  the  school-boy's  track  to  the  house  of  his  early 
pupilage.  And  to-morrow  we  again  weigh  anchors,  and 
follow  on  in  our  course.  The  high  peaks  which  now  sur- 
round us,  and  which  have  reverberated  the  echo  of  the 
cannon  of  almost  every  national  flag  of  the  earth,  and  have 
heard  our  own  loud-mouthed  pieces  speak  more  than  a 
dozen  times  in  national  courtesy  and  personal  civilities, 
will  soon  sink  from  their  proud  elevations  to  mole-hills,  as 
we  stand  on  our  eastern  traverse.  We  bid  ye,  hi  good 


130  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

sooth,  ye  lofty  eminences  and  waved  outline  of  cone  and 
table-mount,  and  organ  peaks,  good-by,  for  long  months, 
perhaps  for  years,  perhaps  for  ever !  And  we  will  not 
forget  the  image  which  ye  will  have  left  in  our  vision,  for 
the  grand  in  nature  is  always  imposing,  and  commands 
remembrance  if  we  would  forget.  And  kindly  we  will 
think  of  your  inwalled  lake,  and  some  who  dwell  in  homes 
which  overlook  these  embosomed  waters ;  for  we  would 
think  with  kindness  on  those  who  kindly  have  treated  us. 
May  a  good  Providence  guide  us  again  to  look  upon  your 
green  mountain-sides,  and  to  re-greet  the  stranger  friends, 
of  whom  we  have  learned  enough  to  desire  yet  more  to 
learn. 

JULY  29,  1838. 

We  are  now  gliding  finely  out  of  the  harbor  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  to  sea.  The  morning  land-breeze  is  swelling  our 
sails  gently,  and  ten  boats  are  ahead  of  us,  from  the  dif- 
ferent ships  of  war  in  the  harbor,  with  our  own,  towing 
us  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  A  few  moments  more, 
and  the  boats  will  have  returned ;  and  the  breeze,  still 
freshening,  assures  us  that  we  shall  gain  a  sufficient  offing 
before  the  sea-breeze  shall  set  in,  and  give  us  a  clear  sweep 
over  the  blue  billow,  from  every  danger  of  an  iron-bound 
coast. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  131 


SECTION  VI. 

Ill,  at  sea.  Religion  everywhere  a  beautifier  of  the  character.  Lines — An 
invalid's  thoughts  of  home.  Gale  at  sea.  Nature's  harmonies,  in  color- 
ing and  adaptation.  Blow,  off  Cape  Good  Hope.  Luna-bow.  Theo- 
ries confirmed  by  experience.  The  variety  of  clouds.  Island  of  Mada- 
gascar. Associations  on  descrying  the  land.  Beautiful  rainbow.  The 
isles  of  France  and  Bourbon.  Harriet  Newell's  last  resting-place.  Lines 
to  a  beautiful  bird,  which  lighted  on  the  ship.  Diego  Rodriques.  Henry 
Martyn.  Religion  beautifies  the  countenance  as  well  as  the  character. 
Byron  and  Pollock.  Corpo-Sant,  or  St.  Elmo's  light.  Sunset  scene  in 
the  seas  of  Arabia.  On  the  equatorial  line  at  meridian.  An  Arabian 
Falco.  Eclipse  of  the  moon.  Calm  of  the  Arabian  seas. 

For  several  days  since  our  leaving  Rio,  I  have  been 
unwell.  Others  of  the  ship  have  been  variously  affected. 
My  own  indisposition  has  been  attended  with  considerable 
suffering,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  consequence  of  eating 
too  freely  of  the  tropical  fruits,  found  in  great  abundance 
and  perfection,  at  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Doctor  H.  has  treated 
me  gently,  and  yet  I  am  extremely  weak.  For  three  days 
past  I  have  kept  my  state-room,  while  every  thing  has  con- 
tributed to  my  comfort,  so  far  as  the  ship  and  its  conveni- 
ences can  afford.  Our  surgeon  is  every  thing  we  would 
embrace  in  the  gentleman,  the  physician,  and  the  Christian. 
Religion,  everywhere,  is  a  beautifier  of  the  character, 
refining  the  sensibilities  of  our  nature.  It  gives  a  charm 
to  the  social  circle.  It  is,  or  should  be,  the  very  breath  of 
woman.  It  is  the  without  which  nothing,  to  the  minister 
of  the  gospel.  But  nowhere  is  it  more  fitly  appropriate, 
than  in  the  character  of  the  physician.  He  secures  our 
confidence  in  the  exercise  of  his  skill,  and  the  heart  is 
softened  to  receive  his  sympathy,  which  never  reaches  the 
perfect  state  of  the  patient's  circumstances,  unless  the 
heart  that  gives  it  has  been  touched  by  the  gospel  princi- 
ples, which  are  indissolubly  connected  with  the  very  being 
of  man.  And  advice  coming  from  such  a  man,  in  the 
hours  of  a  patient's  illness,  is  not  ill-timed,  or  attended  with 
ill-grace.  It  is  not  ex-officio.  As  possessing  such  a  charac- 
ter, I  regard  our  amiable  and  gentlemanly  surgeon. 


132  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

But  with  all  the  comfortables  of  a  convenient  ward- 
room, state-room,  servant,  provision  and  attendance,  all 
will  be  forgotten  by  the  invalid,  when  much  prostrated  ; 
and  his  thoughts  will  go  to  his  far-off  home.  He  thinks 
of  the  soft  hand  of  a  mother  and  sister,  who  have  at- 
tended him  in  some  former  illness.  He  thinks  of  the 
spacious  and  comfortable  chamber  in  his  father's  house. 
He  will  recollect  the  soft  step — the  low  whisper — the 
smile  —  the  caress — the  sympathetic  expression  —  the 
cheerful  hopes,  and  the  encouraging  voice  of  those  who 
love  him.  And  then,  when  he  had  so  far  recovered  as 
to  move  from  room  to  room,  to  be  bolstered  at  the  win- 
dow in  the  easy-chair,  to  walk,  for  the  time,  in  the  yard, 
on  the  lawn,  and  in  the  field — he  recurs  to  all  these 
scenes — the  delicate  preparations — the  support  of  the  sis- 
ter's arm — the  green  grass  his  foot  first  pressed — the 
refreshing  fish-pond  at  whose  side  he  sat — the  sweet  or- 
chard through  which  he  leisurely  strolled,  and  the  bench 
and  the  bower  where  he  lounged,  and  the  beautiful  scenery 
now  rendered  doubly  more  enchanting,  on  which  he 
gazed — and  then,  when  he  could  again  bear  it,  the  soft 
and  sweet  music,  which  awoke  for  him.  Some  of  these 
things  have  been  passing  through  my  own  thoughts  as  I 
have  reposed  upon  my  state-room  cot  and  mused  of  home 
and  scenes  of  other  days.  And  could  the  heart  but  break 
under  such  remembrances  of  kindness,  and  solicitude,  and 
parental  and  sisterly  care  ?  And  the  love  of  home,  and 
kindred  who  make  home  the  blissful  spot  that  it  is,  wakes 
more  intensely  in  such  circumstances,  than  ever  before 
he  has  known  it,  however  sincerely  he  may  have  loved. 
It  is  the  voyager  away  and  afar,  musing  in  his  hours  of 
illness,  who  begets  in  his  bosom  a  love  of  home,  which 
others  cannot  know.  He  realizes,  in  more  vivid  appre- 
ciation, the  charm  of  those  associations,  which  originally 
possessed  their  interest  on  account  of  the  pleasure  they 
had  caused  him  to  experience  at  the  locality  of  his  home  ; 
and  all  these  things  which  have  once  awakened  his  pleas- 
urable emotions  are  now  reviewed  with  a  gentler  heart, 
rendered  additionally  susceptible  in  his  weaker  strength 
of  body ;  and  he  realizes  with  a  warmer  love  the  happy 
circumstances  of  those  happy  hours,  which  have  been, 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  133 

but  now,  in  his  absence  and  distance,  he  realizes  with  the 
deepening  effect,  of  contrast,  not  to  be.  How  then,  with 
intenser  love,  will  he  greet,  on  his  return,  his  forest  shades, 
the  water  stream,  the  deep  ravine,  the  hill,  and  the  ex- 
tended lawn  of  his  country  home ;  or  the  social  and  the 
kindred  hearts  of  his  city  residence. 

If  the  following  lines  may  meet  the  eye  of  one  who 
has  been  placed  on  a  sick-bed,  far  from  kindred  and  home, 
the  writer  of  them  believes  the  reader  will  recognise 
some  feelings  kindred  to  his  own,  however  defective  may 
be  the  manner  in  which  they  may  be  embodied  in  the 
accompanying  measure. 

AN  INVALID'S  THOUGHTS  OF  HOME. 

Oh,  hast  thou  known  the  sorrowing  heart 

Of  one  afar  from  home, 
When  pulses  gush  with  fevered  beat, 

And  friends  around  thee  thou  hast  none  ? 
Then  hast  thou  wept  a  stranger's  tear 

Upon  thy  path  forlorn, 
While  musing  with  a  wanderer's  care 

On  scenes  which  memory  hath  of  home. 

'Tis  then  a  mother's  holiest  love 

Comes  o'er  thee  as  a  spell, 
And  thoughts  that  burn  thy  bosom  rove, 

As  memories  on  her  kindness  dwell. 
For  thou  hast  known  the  silken  hand 

Of  mother  on  thy  brow, 
As  like  some  charm  of  magic  wand, 

It  soothed  thy  pulses'  rapid  flow. 

Ay,  dearer  than  ambition's  hope 

Is  home  at  such  an  hour ; 
And  all  that  earth  to  men  can  ope 

Hath  lost  for  thee  its  wooing  power ; 
There  is  not  then  a  charm  in  wealth, 

Nor  lure  for  thee  in  fame  ; 
The  heart  one  magnet  only  hath, 

And  that  is  e'er  remembered  home. 

Oh  yes,  it  is  a  mother's  care, 

A  sister's  sister-love, 
And  friends  at  home,  who  offer  prayer 

For  thy  best  weal  and  hopes  above- 
It  is  on  them  fond  memories  dwell, 

Nor  world  hath  charm  beside ; 
12 


134          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

To  them  thou  wouldst  thy  last  thoughts  tell 
When  gathered  sadly  at  thy  side. 

O  give  me  back,  then,  to  my  home, 

Where  love  awaiteth  me, 
For  fevered  heat  hath  on  me  come, 

And  few,  they  say.  my  hours  may  be  : 
Then  back,  give  back  this  heart  forlorn, 

And  aching  head  of  mine, 
For  I  have  words  to  speak  at  home, 

Ere  yet  my  life-lamp  cease  to  shine. 

And  then  I'd  lay  me  in  the  ground, 

Where  sleep  my  kindred  near, 
That  friends  may  gather  at  my  mound 

And  shed  for  me  affliction's  tear ; 
And  say  he  loved  as  child  should  love, 

And  had  a  brother's  heart, 
And  will  their  spirits  guide  above 

When  they,  ere  long,  and  earth  shall  part. 


SOMETHING    APPROACHING    NEAR    A    STORM. 

We  have  had  fresh  winds  ever  since  we  left  Rio ;  and 
only  on  the  day  of  our  leaving  the  harbor  have  we  car- 
ried our  royals.  The  winds  have  continued  to  increase, 
as  we  have  stood  on  our  course,  still  more  to  the  south 
and  east,  until,  for  two  or  three  days  past,  it  has  been 
blowing  a  fresh  gale.  Our  guns  have  been  housed,  royals 
and  top-gallant  yards  sent  down,  and  the  ship  made  snug 
for  the  blow.  It  is  on  us.  It  has  been  sweeping  over  us 
for  two  or  three  days.  But  to-night,  the  darkest  wing  of 
the  storm  has  been  expanded  over  the  heavens,  and  the 
billows  are  heaving  their  heaviest  throes  against  the  bul- 
warks of  our  frigate,  as  if  they  would  feel  her  strength, 
to  know  how  well  she  will  meet  the  contest  of  the 
night. 

Having  been  unwell  for  some  time,  though  much  better 
for  the  last  three  days,  I  have  not  ventured  on  the  upper 
deck,  as  the  weather  has  been  so  bad,  and  the  winds  so 
high,  and  the  gun-deck  so  wet  from  the  water  that  floods 
it,  though  the  guns  have  been  run  in,  and  the  ports  ren- 
dered as  tight  as  practicable.  But  the  gale  rises,  and  I 
have  desired  to  contemplate  the  sea  in  its  mad  commotion, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND   THE    WORLD.  135 

and  to  listen  to  the  wild  winds  as  they  whistle  through  the 
rigging  of  the  ship,  with  her  storm-dress  upon  her.  To- 
night, therefore,  I  attired  myself  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 
opportunity,  and,  de  pie  en  cap,  ascended  to  the  spar  or 
upper  deck.  Lieutenant  P.  was  the  officer  of  the  deck, 
and  held  the  nettled  courser  on  her  path  of  darkness  and 
foam.  I  told  him,  as  he  discovered  me,  that  I  had  come 
to  look  at  the  dark  eye  of  the  gale.  We  talked  a  mo- 
ment of  the  necessity  of  witnessing  scenes  of  this  kind 
rightly  to  conceive,  or  to  feel,  or  to  describe  them.  I 
had  waited  for  such  an  opportunity  to  ascend  the  rigging 
of  the  ship,  and  now  placed  myself  upon  the  windward 
ratlins  of  the  mainmast.  "  Have  a  care  of  yourself,  Mr. 
T.,"  said  the  officer  on  learning  my  purpose,  "  if  you  fall 
overboard,  the  ship  cannot  be  hove  to,  to  save  you  Zo- 
night."  "  I  know  it — I  know  it,"  I  said,  and  left  him  on 
the  deck. 

It  was  a  fearful  slant  those  masts,  ever  and  now  made, 
as  they  bent  to  the  influence  of  the  gale  and  the  surge 
that  rolled  beneath  the  frigate ;  but  her  noble  hull  was 
ever  true,  and  again  the  masts  righted,  as  if  to  mock  the 
winged  spirit  of  the  storm,  and  waited  exultingly  for  yet 
other  rencounters,  in  their  wrestles  for  the  mastery.  And 
those  succeeding  rencounters  came.  Ever  and  anon  I 
saw,  far  off,  the  terrible  roller  that  bore  down  on  the 
weather-beam  in  its  majesty,  unseen  only  as  its  phospho- 
rescent crest  broke  higher  than  the  others  on  the  dark 
sea,  ere  his  huge  proportions  struck  the  waiting  Columbia, 
now  dashing  on  her  way  as  if  no  antagonist  greater  than 
before  were  nearing.  But  he  came  on  in  his  darkness 
and  foam.  And  he  was  no  boaster,  that  huge  billow; 
but  he  was  met,  and  the  triumphant  ship  spurned  the 
surge,  as  she  bent  to  the  mighty  impulse,  and  dashed  yet 
wilder  and  yet  grander  on  her  way  of  terror,  and  dark- 
ness, and  mist,  and  whirlwind,  and  hurricane.  Who  can 
ever  forget  the  sea-moan  of  the  wind,  in  its  flight  of 
storm  through  the  rigging  of  a  frigate,  as  ours,  this  night, 
bends  beneath  the  swift  and  heavy  passage  of  the  aeriel 
elements  without  a  rag  on  our  mizen-mast — the  spanker- 
gaff  down — and  under  double-reefed  foresail,  close-reefed 
main-topsail,  and  storm  staysail ;  and  yet  the  gallant  ship 


136  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

is  leaping  from  surge  to  surge  through  the  dark  deep, 
with  thickest  midnight  brooding  over  the  ocean,  at  the 
rate  of  twelve  knots  the  hour.  What  could  save  us  were 
we  dashing  on  a  coral  reef?  What  could  save  us,  were 
we  to  come  in  contact  with  a.  heavier  mettled  vessel  than 
ourselves  ?  And  what  could  save  the  craft  upon  which 
our  ship  this  night  should  strike  ?  No  one,  in  the  wild 
darkness  that  overhangs  us,  could  descry  a  sail  ahead, 
nor  the  high  peaks  of  an  ocean-isle,  nor  the  coast  of  main 
land,  nor  in  the  roar  of  the  tempest  that  rages  with  the 
voice  of  mighty  elements,  catch  one  lisp  of  the  loud  mur- 
murs of  a  coast  of  breakers. 

I  left  the  rigging,  and  wished  no  longer  to  look  at  the 
fearful  slant  of  the  careening  bark.  How  she  is  saved 
from  rolling  irrecoverably,  as  her  main-yard  nearly  sweeps 
the  careering  billow,  science  can  tell  us,  and  science 
only,  while  the  eye  dilates  as  it  marks  the  fearful  sweep 
of  the  main-mast,  from  the  dark  zenith  to  the  darker  hori- 
zon. It  would  seem  as  if  there  were  power  enough  in 
the  wind  and  the  surge,  in  their  madness  to-night, to  bear, on 
an  untiring  wing  through  mid-heaven,  our  heaving  frigate, 
as  a  god,  in  his  might,  would  sport  with  an  infant. 

This  is  the  winter  season  in  this  latitude  of  the  south- 
ern hemisphere,  and  a  squall  with  hail  hath  met  us.  How 
strange,  in  connection  with  all  our  previous  experience ! 
While  our  friends  are  burning  with  heat  in  the  early  part 
of  August,  it  being  the  twelfth,  or  enjoying  the  cool  shade 
of  the  bower  that  shelters  them  from  the  sun's  too  intense 
beam,  we  are  shivering,  in  his  absence,  and  with  the  tem- 
perature, to-day,  of  a  northern  December  around  us. 

CAPE  PIGEON. 

Our  ship  has  been  driving,  with  great  speed,  on  her 
course  towrards  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  When  but  a 
few  days  out  of  Rio,  we  were  attended  by  a  considerable 
number  of  a  beautiful  bird,  usually  called  the  cape  pigeon. 
It  may  be  deemed  the  gull  of  the  southern  hemisphere, 
in  size  resembling  that  graceful  personification  of  the 
wave  and  its  foam,  which  scales  nearer  in  to  the  shores 
in  the  northern  seas.  These  birds  are  heavier  than  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          137 

northern  gull,  their  wings  shorter ;  and  varied  with  tracery 
of  white  feathers  on  their  wings,  giving  a  beautiful  con- 
trast of  dark  and  white  waved  lines  on  either  wing. 
Their  necks,  though  stouter,  much  resemble,  in  their  hues, 
the  wild  pigeon,  but  their  legs  are  short,  and  their  feet 
webbed.  One  of  these  birds  became  entangled  in  the 
rigging  of  the  ship,  and  was  taken  by  the  men.  Another 
was  ensnared  by  a  line,  thrown  overboard  with  a  bait ; 
but  the  bird  caught  his  wing  in  the  cord  and  was  thus 
drawn  aboard. 

How  beautiful  is  nature  in  all  her  harmonies  of  color- 
ing and  adaptations  !  These  birds,  and  more  particularly 
the  northern  gull,  with  its  white  breast,  dark-brown  wing, 
and  graceful  flight,  chime  in  with  the  waters  over  which 
they  scale,  in  their  thousand  evolutions.  Would  they  not 
have  seemed  quite  out  of  place,  had  they  been  of  a  deep 
scarlet  color  ?  Such  a  colored  bird  we  look  not  for  on  the 
deep,  but  among  the  green  bowers,  and  fadeless  forests  of  a 
tropical  climate.  But  the  gull  seems  the  graceful  child  of 
its  mother  foam,  breaking  her  curling  crest  on  the  dark- 
blue  wave.  And  the  cape  pigeon,  venturing  further  out 
upon  the  deeper  blue  ocean  than  the  northern  gull,  has  a 
plumage  partaking  of  the  still  deeper  blue  of  the  surge, 
and  his  wing  feathered  with  the  lighter  white  of  the  wilder 
crested  billow. 

But  there  is  another  bird  which  hangs  on  our  course  of 
fresh  gales,  as  they  have  attended  us  for  the  most  part  of 
our  passage  since  we  left  Rio.  He  is  a  larger  bird  than 
the  cape  pigeon,  with  longer  wings  and  a  slimmer  body, 
and  dark  as  the  misty  nights  themselves  which  have  over- 
hung us.  I  cannot  look  at  that  bird  without  regarding 
him  as  the  very  spirit  of  the  storm  that  sweeps,  with  its 
dark  wings,  over  the  lashed  sea.  There  he  is,  scaling  in 
his  quick  evolutions  a  thousand  times,  during  the  cloudy 
day,  across  the  track  which  our  ship  leaves  in  the  disturb- 
ed waters  behind  her.  And  when  the  tempest  of  the  night 
has  had  its  full  sweep  through  the  rigging  of  our  naked 
spars,  the  morning  finds  that  dark  bird  still  near  us,  though 
scarcely  seen  only  as  his  wing  tips  the  billow  in  its  roll, 
as  he  turns  himself  in  his  flight,  and  lines  his  shape  in  his 
upward  curve  and  dark  relief,  on  the  horizon  beyond  him. 
12* 


138          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

And  yet,  I  dislike  not  that  bird — he  is  so  sublimely  in  keep- 
ing with  the  dark-rolling  billows  of  the  sea,  when  no  crest 
is  on  their  tops,  but  clouds  darken  the  heavens — or  as  seen, 
the  precursor  of  the  dark-winged  squall,  when  driving, 
with  nearing  approaches,  over  the  waters — or  when  the 
heavy  gathering  of  the  dark  nimbi-clouds  around  the  whole 
horizon  tell  the  wary  sailor  of  the  coming  hurricane,  that 
shall  throw  ocean  and  air,  and  falling  waters,  into  their 
wildest  tumult  and  rage. 

OFF  CAPE  OF  GOOD  HOPE,  AUGUST  19th,  1838. 

I  have  written  of  the  blow  which  swept  over  us  on  the 
llth  instant;  and  fresh  winds  have  attended  us  during 
most  of  our  course  from  Rio,  up  to  our  present  position. 

But  the  gale  of  last  night  and  this  morning,  has  out- 
matched the  elements  in  their  tumult  of  the  eleventh.  We 
are  now  standing  nearly  east,  with  fore-course  double- 
reefed,  and  main-topsail  close-reefed,  and  the  wind  abaft. 
The  swell  of  the  ocean  exceeds  any  thing  which  we  have 
before  seen.  The  crest  of  the  surge  raises  high  its  white 
cap,  only  to  be  sent,  like  whirling  drifts  from  the  high  peak 
of  a  snow-bank.  At  times,  the  extended  ocean  lies  before 
us  sheeted  in  one  vast  layer  of  foam  ;  or  again,  the  blue 
billow,  rolling  higher  than  his  fellow,  breaks  its  huge  vol- 
ume, and  sends  its  thousand  currents  of  mingling  froth 
down  the  steep  aslant  of  the  surge,  like  expanded  flakes 
of  snow,  resting  on  the  declivities  of  the  blue  ravine. 
While  standing  on  the  arm-chest  of  the  quarter-deck,  one 
mightier  surge  than  the  rest,  came  on,  and  rolling  high  its 
curling  crest,  bent  its  lip  of  foam  over  the  hammock-cloth 
and  drenched  me  from  head  to  feet.  It  was  a  mighty 
heave  of  the  ocean,  thus  to  overleap  the  highest  part  of 
the  spar-deck. 

Having  changed  my  dress,  I  again  sought  the  deck,  to 
ascend  to  the  mizzen-top.  No  sail  was  spread  upon  the 
naked  spars,  while  the  winds  roared  through  the  moaning 
rigging ;  and  here  in  grand  solitude,  I  gazed  abroad  upon 
the  lashed  ocean,  raging  in  the  wildness  of  a  gale  at  sea. 
The  sun  was  out,  and  sent  his  steady  beams  abroad,  as  if 
to  light  up  the  terror  of  the  storm.  The  spray  of  the  clip- 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  139 

ped  surge  reached  me,  even  in  the  mizzen-top,  as  it  was 
whirled  on  the  wing  of  the  eddying  currents.  Abroad, 
on  the  vast  deep,  the  mighty  cascades  of  ocean  threw  up, 
as  incense  of  obJation  to  the  winds,  their  jets  of  foam,  co- 
ruscating in  the  light  of  the  glorious  sun,  and  rendering 
contemptible  all  the  attempts  of  art  to  imitate  the  water- 
spouts of  nature.  But  the  winds — those  moaning  winds, 
wailing  through  the  taughtened  rigging,  now  howled  like 
a  thousand  spirits,  that  seemed  ready  to  chant  the  requiem 
of  half  a  thousand  souls  held  at  their  mercy,  and  driving 
them  on  their  way  of  tempest,  with  life-lines  stretched 
from  gun  to  gun,  the  length  of  either  deck,  to  enable  them 
to  pass  from  bows  to  stern  of  the  careening,  and  pitching, 
and  struggling  ship.  It  was  a  grand  spectacle,  that  veiw 
from  the  mizzen-top.  The  fore  and  main  each  bore  only 
a  single  sail,  close-reefed.  No  other  sail  was  set.  The 
top-gallant-masts  were  housed,  the  guns  run  in,  and  all 
was  snug.  Scarcely  a  man  was  seen  aloft  in  the  fore  and 
main  tops,  while  the  mizzen-mast  stood  in  its  naked  cords 
and  spars,  to  wail,  in  sympathy,  with  the  maddened  ele- 
ments of  wind  and  wave,  while  the  one  swept  through  its 
cordage,  and  the  other  around  us,  in  the  wildness  of  its 
tempest-course.  It  was  a  fearful  chord  those  masts,  at 
times,  would  line  on  the  heavens,  as  the  ship  was  heaved 
by  the  rolling  billow  ;  and  as  I  gazed  over  the  chafed  sea, 
from  the  rocking  height,  the  very  currents  of  the  air  seem- 
ed as  if  they  would  choke  me,  as  I  inhaled  my  breath. 
Never  before,  as  now,  had  I  so  fully  realized  the  fearful 
circumstances  of  the  adventurous  tar  aloft  while  the  gale 
is  raging,  and  mastering  the  winds  themselves,  though, 
from  habit,  he  is  as  confident  and  sure  as  if  his  feet  were 
pressing  the  firmer  deck  below. 

Such  is  the  scene  while  we  are  moving  around  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  some  hundred  miles  in  the  distance  from 
it.  But  we  fear  nothing.  We  know  our  path — unlike 
the  earliest  adventurers  on  the  same  course,  but  hugging 
nearer  to  the  shore,  which  they  justly  denominated,  in  the 
days  of  their  smaller  ships  and  imperfect  knowledge,  "the 
cape  of  all  torments."  But  our  run  is  at  the  rate  of  ten 
knots  and  more  the  hour,  directly  on  the  course  which 
we  desire  to  make  over  the  mighty  billows,  which,  in  all 


140  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

their  mountain-height  of  blue  and  green,  and  crest  of  foam 
and  mist,  and  spouting  cascades  of  crystal  waters,  drink- 
ing in  the  light  of  the  high  sun,  are  yet  beautiful,  and  grand, 
and  sublime  as  nature,  even  in  her  wrath,  ever  appears. 
Go  on,  then,  thou  goodly  ship.  Thou  hast  borne  us  safely 
thus  far,  and  we  will  trust  thee  still,  in  the  hand  of  that 
greater  Power,  who  poured  the  ocean's  self  from  his  palm, 
and  can  wake  or  allay  its  mighty  commotion,  at  his  will. 
On  a  succeeding  evening  Lieutenant  Turner  sent  for 
me,  to  come  to  the  deck  and  look  at  a  beautiful  Luna-bow. 
Its  colorless  but  soft  phosphorescent  arch  was  lined  dis- 
tinctly and  perfect  on  a  dark-brown  cloud,  in  the  south- 
east, while  the  moon  shone  sweetly  and  bright  in  the  north- 
west. The  apex  of  the  arch  was  some  15°  above  the  sea; 
and  nothing  could  be  more  soft,  more  chaste,  more  lovely. 
In  its  proportions  and  position  it  obeyed  all  the  laws  of  the 
rainbow,  with  the  exception  of  the  color  of  its  rays.  The 
light  of  the  moon,  though  her  smiles  were  abundant  for  a 
maiden  no  more  than  a  week  old,  was  too  feeble  to  trans- 
mit from  the  bow  the  prismatic  colors.  And  I  would  not 
wish  to  have  seen  them,  if  ever  they  appear.  They 
would  have  been  out  of  character,  in  the  soft  light  of  the 
moon,  as  she  walked  through  her  blue  halls  to-night,  with 
the  horns  of  her  silver  crescent  turned  towards  the  north, 
and  the  stars  above  her  and  around  her  shining  in  their 
own  peculiar  sheen  of  glory.  And  then,  not  far  above 
this  arch  of  light,  so  chiming  in  with  the  color  of  the  stars 
and  the  moon's  pale  beam,  was  seen  the  constellation  of 
the  Southern  Cross.  There,  then,  were  all  the  elements 
of  the  escutcheon  of  the  once  proud  house  of  Portugal, 
with  her  gems  of  the  Brazils — the  cross  supported  by  its 
arch,  and  its  azure  field  studded  with  brilliants.  But  the 
mind  that  loves  to  let  its  vision  go  beyond  the  things  of 
change,  would  think  of  the  reality,  which  that  constella- 
tion emblems  forth  of  immortality  to  spirits,  which  dia- 
monds of  the  mines  and  stars  of  the  heavens  may  not 
redeem ;  and  associate  the  halo,  spanned  in  its  graceful 
loveliness  and  light  on  the  heavens,  with  the  brow  of  Him 
who  made  them  all,  and  redeemed  man  to  fadeless  bless- 
edness, if  he  will  but  return  to  him  the  fit  devotion  of  his 
heart ! 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  141 


THEORIES    CONFIRMED    BY    OBSERVATION. 

Few  things  can  more  gratify  one,  whose  habit  of  mind 
has  been  to  philosophize  on  the  phenomena  of  nature,  than 
to  be  placed  in  circumstances  where  he  is  able  to  verify 
the  theories  with  which  he  has  been  familiar,  and  to  ob- 
serve for  himself  the  reality  of  those  theorems  in  physics 
which  he  believes  as  mathematical  certainties,  but  which 
his  opportunities  of  observation  have  never  before  given 
him  to  feel  to  be  true,  as  matters  of  his  own  visible  inspec- 
tion and  consequent  experience. 

We  all  believe  that  the  earth  is  a  sphere.  We  have 
read  the  proofs  and  followed  out  its  demonstrations  in 
curves  and  sines  and  tangents  ;  and  have  read  of  ships, 
guided  by  the  unerring  magnet,  and  the  bright  stars,  and 
the  yet  brighter  sun,  sailing  around  the  world,  by  keeping 
on  their  unchanged  course  to  the  east.  We  believe  it  all. 
But  it  is  not  with  that  feeling  of  conviction  which  pos- 
sesses him,  who  has  watched  the  compass  from  day  to  day 
and  from  month  to  month  as  he  has  urged  on  his  curved 
course,  with  the  prow  of  his  ship  ever  pointed  to  the  east, 
and  finds  himself  at  last,  at  the  same  point  of  the  west  from 
which  he  started. 

And  again,  if  from  the  north  the  voyager  has  ever  look- 
ed at  the  sun  performing  his  daily  circuit  at  the  south  of 
him,  seeming  so  closely  to  hug  his  bright  halls  in  the  south- 
ern distance  as  almost  to  leave  a  doubt  in  one's  feelings 
whether  it  be  a  possibility  for  one  to  place  that  same 
luminary  at  the  north  of  him,  though  he  should  sail  to  the 
southmost  extent  of  the  earth.  But  the  voyager  no 
sooner  commences  his  course  southward  than  he  finds  that 
the  sun,  at  noonday,  is  more  nearly  above  him  than  before. 
He  continues  his  course  another  day,  and  still  another,  and 
another,  and  finds  the  sun,  in  his  never-failing  circuit,  yet 
nearer  above  him,  when  midway  on  his  diurnal  track 
of  the  heavens.  As  his  ship  still  bounds  on  her  fleet  tra- 
verse, at  length  the  sun,  at  meridian,  sends  down  his  per- 
pendicular ray,  with  an  intensity  of  heat,  that  tells  him 
there  is  no  mistake  about  its  coming  from  the  point  direct- 
ly in  his  zenith.  But  he  still  urges  on  his  course  to  the 


142  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

south,  and  finds  that  he  is  continually  leaving  the  belt  of 
the  heavens  through  which  the  sun  makes  his  annual 
circuit,  until,  as  is  now  our  own  case,  he  reaches  a  point, 
from  which  the  sun  appears  as  far  to  the  north  of  him  at 
noonday,  as  a  New-Yorker  would  see  the  same  glorious 
orb  at  his  south,  on  a  November's  noon. 

And  then,  as  he  gazes  from  night  to  night  on  the  bright 
stars,  on  which  he  has  looked  from  his  infancy,  sinking  one 
by  one  beneath  the  horizon,  as  he  recedes  from  them; 
and  another  hemisphere  of  yet  brighter  brilliants  looming 
up  before  him  to  delight  his  view,  he  feels,  while  he  thus 
gazes  and  admires,  and  is  sad,  that  he  has  evidence  that 
this  earth  is  a  vast  globe,  on  which  he  has  sailed  to  its 
higher  part,  and  there  for  a  moment  delayed,  but  is  now 
descending  again,  with  a  long  farewell  to  the  home  and 
the  hemisphere  where  he  has  ever  before  lived,  and  looked, 
and  loved. 

The  trade-winds  are  another  subject  of  interest  to  the 
voyager,  as  he  passes  to  the  equator  and  beyond  it.  In 
accounting  for  the  regularity  of  these  winds,  for  ever  blow- 
ing in  the  same  direction,  he  has  to  review  but  a  few  and 
simple  principles,  for  the  confirmation  of  the  theories  in 
meteorology,  with  which  he  made  himself  acquainted  in 
his  school- boy  days,  or  in  hours  of  maturer  reasonings. 
And  he  finds  the  reality  to  be,  as  his  theories  would  lead  him 
to  infer.  In  the  northern  tropic,  a  perpetual  northeast 
wind  prevails,  ever  driving  towards  the  equator,  and  in 
the  southern  tropic,  a  southeast  trade  alike  drives  on  its 
perpetual  slant. 


THE    VARIETY    OF    CLOUDS. 


There  are  many  other  objects  of  interest,  which  attract 
the  gaze,  and  offer  continual  subjects  to  amuse  the  specula- 
tions of  the  meteorologist,  as  well  as  to  delight  the  fancy 
of  the  poet,  and  awaken  the  emotion  of  the  beautiful  in 
the  bosom  of  the  lover  of  nature.  Nowhere  else  can  we 
have  so  full  and  ever  varying  views  of  the  changing 
clouds,  as  at  sea.  One  sees  them  in  their  thousand  forms 
and  changes  and  picturesque  grouping  of  castle  and  turret 
and  falling  ruins  ;  and  cavalcade  and  infantry  in  elernen- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  143 

tary  war ;  and  in  the  calm  of  succeeding  truce,  and  the 
serene  of  final  peace.  And  then,  the  expanses,  like  ocean- 
plains,  in  the  ever  changing  skies,  often  lay  before  him  in 
their  green,  or  blue,  or  saffron  and  gold,  with  the  soft  clouds 
drifting  slowly  over  the  bosom  of  the  rich  expanse,  like  so 
many  floating  islands,  prepared  for  the  spirits  of  the  blest 
in  their  circuit  of  the  universe,  and  of  fadeless  happiness 
and  years. 

We  gaze  upon  the  cirrus — most  generally  occupying 
the  highest  place  of  the  atmosphere,  and  sometimes  cover- 
ing the  vast  expanse  above  us,  sometimes  usurping  the 
whole  heavens.  Now  it  throws  out  its  fibrous  lines  with 
curled  ends,  like  the  flowing  hair  of  a  "  Kate's  crazed," 
streaming  dishevelled  in  the  breeze.  Again  it  is  seen  in  its 
lines  of  net- work ;  and  at  others,  like  flakes  of  wool  dis- 
tended and  terminated  in  its  curve  of  curls.  The  sailors 
call  this  cloud  the  mare's  tail;  and  the  cirrus,  Englishized, 
means  a  tuft  or  lock  of  curled  or  frizzled  hair.  The  mari- 
ner supposes  it  to  be  a  harbinger  of  coming  winds  ;  and 
when  it  gathers  low  and  dense,  a  blow  may  be  deemed  to 
hang  upon  its  nearing  wing.  At  such  times,  it  is  generally 
seen  rising  from  a  direction  opposite  to  the  one  whence 
the  gale  shall  come.  The  brushy  and  filiform  structure 
of  this  cloud,  would  seem  to  favor  the  supposition,  that 
this  class  of  nebula  serve  as  conductors  of  electricity  from 
cloud  to  cloud,  and  from  one  mass  of  the  atmosphere  to 
another.  Its  changes  are  often  very  rapid,  throwing  out 
filaments  in  various  directions,  from  the  original  thread,  and 
disappearing  in  the  form  of  another  cloud,  but  when  most 
elevated,  sometimes  pencils  its  beautiful  tracery,  for  hours, 
on  the  fair  and  deep-blue  sky. 

The  cirro-cumulus  is  a  modification  of  the  cirrus,  having 
the  appearance  we  would  imagine  to  be  given  to  the  cir- 
rus, if  its  small  fibrous  layers  were  contracted  into  globu- 
lar shapes,  and  extending  themselves  in  irregular  and  hori- 
zontal masses.  They  generally  occupy  the  place  next 
lower  in  the  sky  than  the  cirrus  ;  and  by  some,  this  variety 
of  form  is  deemed  to  result  from  the  cirrus  ceasing  its 
office  as  an  electric  conductor,  either  by  its  change  of  form 
or  the  changed  state  of  the  atmosphere.  It  is  deemed  the 
forerunner  of  fair  weather ;  but  not  always  is  it  such,  for, 


144  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

when  accompanied  by  the  cirro-stratus,  another  variety 
of  cloud,  it  is  regarded  as  a  sure  indicator  of  a  coming 
storm. 

The  cirro-stratus  is  varying  and  many- formed,  but,  like 
the  cirrus,  it  is  a  fibrous  cloud.  It  spreads  its  cross-bars 
or  fibrous  layers  of  oblique  and  parallel  streaks  in  a  hori- 
zontal extension,  varying  in  their  length  and  size  and  color, 
but  uniting  themselves  in  a  horizontal  line,  while  the  ends 
are  jagged  and  distinct.  At  other  times  they  spread  them- 
selves in  disconnected  but  regular  oblique  lines,  parallel  to 
each  other,  lying  on  the  back-ground  of  the  heavens  in 
fanciful  resemblance  of  a  school  offish,  and  hence  deriving 
from  the  voyager  the  name  of  mackerel  skies.  The  night 
before  the  gale  we  experienced  off  Cape  Good  Hope,  the 
skies  were  checkered  with  this  variety  of  clouds,  attended 
by  the  cirrus  yet  above  it,  and  both  sailing  in  the  upper 
region.  Ere  long  they  condensed  into  darker  layers 
towards  the  falling  of  the  sun,  with  the  increase  of  the 
winds.  The  cirro-stratus,  in  connection  with  either  of  the 
preceding  forms,  is  regarded  as  an  unfailing  precursor  of 
a  gale  ;  and  in  the  language  of  the  sailors, 

"  Mackerel  skies  and  mares'  tails, 
Make  high  ships  carry  low  sails." 

The  cumulus  and  the  cumulo- stratus  never  tire  the  eye 
as  it  gazes  on  their  sublime  piles,  banked  up  one  upon 
another,  and  rolling  on  their  courses  in  changing  but  ever 
beautiful  formations.  What  may  not  one  fancy  them  to 
be  in  their  fleecy  robes  of  light,  and  gossamer  of  a  thou- 
sand dyes,  from  the  deepest  crimson  and  scarlet  and  ver- 
milion, to  every  shade  of  gold ;  or  as  they  stack  their 
spherical  shapes  in  an  untarnished  glow  of  silver  and  gold, 
against  the  deep  blue  of  the  ether  ?  I  have  watched,  for 
hours,  their  varying  forms,  as  they  have  lined  themselves 
in  one  almost  unbroken  and  glorious  panorama  around  the 
horizon  of  the  heavens,  when  nature  seemed  to  be  deco- 
rating herself  for  the  gala  of  some  one  of  her  grandest  holi- 
days. And  then,  as  the  sun  coursed  down  his  way  to  his 
bed  of  the  ocean,  retiring  behind  the  banks  of  these  conic 
and  terraced  masses, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  145 

"  Fve  lingering  gazed  upon  the  glowing  west, 
Seen  in  her  gold  and  gorgeous  purple  drest ; 
But  soon  those  brilliant  dyes  have  past  away, 
As  evening  threw  her  veil  far  o'er  the  sky." 

Of  these  two  clouds,  the  cumulus,  whenever  it  is  the 
precursor  of  rain,  presents  a  more  sombre  and  fleecy 
appearance,  and  is  less  globular  and  distinct  in  its  forma- 
tion, and  sinking  in  denser  masses  towards  the  horizon. 
But  in  fair  weather,  its  rounded  forms  are  well  defined, 
and  sail  higher  up  on  its  course  of  light,  drinking  in  the 
beams  of  the  smiling  sun,  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
loveliest  day. 

The  cumulo-stratus  is  yet  more  beautiful  in  its  combina- 
tions of  rolling  and  heavy  masses,  overhanging  its  dark 
underlayers  ;  and  sometimes  seems  to  lower,  as  if  all  were 
not  right  in  the  peaceful  regions  through  which  it  is  sail- 
ing; but  it  is  believed  that  rain  never  falls  from  this  majes- 
tic voyager  of  the  fair  and  beautiful  heavens. 

The  nimbus,  or  the  rain  cloud,  often  has  its  origin  in  the 
cumulus.  Large  masses  of  the  cumuli,  at  times,  may  be 
seen  crowding  together,  blending  their  folds  and  raising 
high  their  peaks,  and  gliding  into  the  form  of  cumulo-stra- 
tus. Ere  long  they  become  more  and  more  dense,  until 
they  present  to  the  beholder  the  dark  sides  and  threat- 
ening volumes  of  the  nimbus,  which  delays  not  long  its 
approach  over  the  waters  in  gust  and  whirlwind  and  rain; 
and  is  known  alike  to  the  observant  and  the  unobservant, 
as  the  dispenser  of  showers,  and  tempests,  and  storms. 

The  cloud  which  is  spoken  of  by  the  meteorologist,  as 
occupying  the  lowest  stations,  is  the  stratus,  which  includes 
in  its  genus  the  mists  and  fogs  formed  during  the  night,  and 
dispersed  by  the  rarefying  beams  of  the  early  sun.  It  is 
supposed  to  reach  its  density  at  midnight ;  and  owing  to 
this  circumstance,  it  is  sometimes  called  the  cloud  of  night. 
But  when  the  sun's  early  rays  scatter  its  white  folds  into 
thin  air  in  the  morning,  it  is  the  surest  harbinger  of  fairest 
'skies.  Who  has  looked  on  the  vast  volumes  of  the  autum- 
nal fogs,  rolling  from  the  river  up  the  ravines,  as  the  sun 
sends  forth  his  morning  beams,  and  has  not  admired  the 
silvery  and  fleecy  folds  of  the  slowly  rolling  vapors,  as 
they  rise  beneath  the  rarefying  influence  of  the  morning 

13 


146  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ray  ?  And  if  we  have  beheld  them  while  we  were  gazing 
upon  them  from  the  side  of  friends,  and  at  the  home  of 
our  youth,  nothing  can  make  us  forget  the  charm  of  these 
young  associations,  and  the  waking  views  of  our  careless 
and  happy  hours. 

LAND,  HO  ! 

We  have  just  made  the  southern  point  of  the  island  of 
Madagascar,  after  a  run  of  thirty  days  from  Rio.  It  is  a 
question  whether  a  quicker  passage  has  been  made  over 
the  same  track,  our  ship  having  measured  ninety  degrees 
of  longitude,  or  sailed  one  fourth  the  way  around  the 
world  in  thirty  days. 

It  is  indeed  a  thing  of  delight  to  gain  a  view  of  land, 
after  a  passage  of  weeks  at  sea.  The  voyager  feels  that 
he  is  again  united  to  a  world  of  living  beings  ;  and  the  eye 
fixes  itself  on  the  land  as  an  associate  object,  to  carry  the 
heart  directly  to  friends,  though  they  be  a  hemisphere  from 
the  spot  where  the  eye  is  lingering  its  gaze.  It  is  on  land 
where  our  dearest  associations  cluster.  It  is  there  we  have 
laughed,  and  wept,  and  loved  ;  and  it  is  there  we  believe 
ourselves  still  to  be  beloved. 

To  me,  it  is  an  agreeable  circumstance  to  be  noted,  that 
we  have,  in  every  instance,  made  the  land  under  some  inter- 
esting exhibition  of  nature.  The  scene  at  Madeira,  and 
the  bright  Arcturus  shining  above  us,  has  been  mentioned. 
The  eve  of  our  gaining  our  first  view  of  Rio  de  Janeiro 
is  noted,  as  associated  with  an  unequalled  moon-lit  scene. 
And  to-night,  as  the  sun  went  down  but  a  little  at  the  west 
of  the  island,  which  lies  in  the  horizon  on  our  larboard 
beam,  bathing  his  golden  disk  in  the  Indian  seas,  he  exhib- 
ited a  peculiar  and  peaceful  sunset,  which  seemed  to  omen 
brightly  of  our  onward  way,  through  the  waters  of  these 
olden  lands.  The  large  orb  fell,  while  we  were  gazing 
on  the  newly  seen  isle.  When  his  lower  limb  touched  the 
waves,  they  heaved  against  his  crimson  belt,  while  some 
six  or  eight  digits  of  his  disk  only  could  be  seen,  as  he 
continued  to  settle  beneath  the  waves,  from  a  cloud  above 
him,  until  at  length  his  upper  rim  emerged  from  the  fleecy 
bank,  and  in  a  moment  more  he  disappeared,  saying,  in  the 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  147 

last  gleam  that  scintillated  in  his  farewell  ray,  "  I  have  been 
your  friend — I  have  given  you  my  beams  until  I  have 
saved  you  from  the  nearing  danger,  and  the  wished-for 
object  now  lies  before  you.  Praise  ye,  then,  the  God  who 
made  me." 

Surely  that  heart  must  be  devoid  of  all  capability  of 
gratitude,  who,  after  a  course  of  weeks  upon  the  bound- 
less ocean,  can  look  upon  the  land,  and  think  of  friends, 
and  health,  and  safety,  and  gives  not  a  gush  of  bursting 
Jove  to  the  God  who  made  him,  and  whose  attending 
goodness  has  been  with  him  on  the  seas. 

The  land  which  we  have  made  is  the  island  of  Mada- 
gascar, the  first  we  have  seen  in  this  ocean  of  isles,  into 
which  we  are  about  entering,  and  which  we  first  desired 
to  make.* 

In  consequence  of  finding  it  impossible  to  weather  the 
southeastern  point  of  the  island  of  Madagascar,  occasion- 
ed by  the  adverse  winds  called  the  Fort  Dauphin  winds, 
which  prevail  at  the  south  end  of  Madagascar,  our  ship 
has  been  standing  to  the  east  and  south  for  several  days, 
with  the  intention  of  taking  one  of  the  outer  passages  for 
Muscat  or  Bombay.  The  island  of  Madagascar  is  a  con- 
tinent in  itself;  and  it  seems  remarkable  that  it  has  not 
met  the  avaricious  eye  of  some  of  the  European  powers, 
and  called  for  the  exercise  of  their  prowess,  in  the  at- 
tempt to  take  and  to  hold  possession  of  it. 

Yesterday,  September  4th,  we  were  some  three  hun- 
dred miles  from  land,  with  the  island  of  Bourbon  and  the 
Isle  of  France  at  the  windward.  It  seems  yet  unsolved 
whether  we  shall  touch  at  the  latter.  It  is  replete  with 
associations.  It  is  the  spot  where  the  scenes  are  laid, 
which  have  brought  the  tear  to  the  eye  of  many  a  young 


*  During  the  night,  owing  to  our  proximity  to  the  land,  we  stood 
off  to  the  south,  but  tacked  ship  early  in  the  morning.  When  again 
we  had  gained  a  view  of  the  land,  a  cloud  had  passed  the  ship ; 
and  a  bow  more  brilliant  than  any  one  on  board  had  ever  before 
seen,  arched  itself  over  the  southern  extremity  of  Madagascar. 
The  lower  chord  of  rays  lined  themselves  as  distinctly  in  its  lovely 
violet  as  art's  less  lovely  tints  could  have  drawn  them  on  canvass. 
It  was  a  perfect  thing,  and  awakened  the  admiration  of  every  eye 
on  board. 


148  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

heart  while  reading  the  sentimental  and  tragic  story  of 
Paul  and  Virginia.  The  island,  in  other  days,  has  been 
noted  for  its  loveliness,  and  choice  and  hospitable  society. 
The  clove  in  its  rich  aroma,  and  the  cinnamon,  and  the 
coffee  tree  deck  the  plantations,  while  the  flowering  mi- 
mosas with  their  contrasts  of  white  and  yellow  and  rose 
blossoms,  with  the  deep  verdure  of  their  dense  foliage, 
decorate  the  streets  of  Port  Louis. 

But  to  me,  the  greatest  charm  which  could  be  thrown 
around  this  fair  isle  of  the  Indian  seas,  is  the  circumstance 
of  its  being  the  final  resting-place  of  the  lovely  and  de- 
voted Harriet  Newell.  I  well  remember  the  story  of  this 
first  martyr  to  the  cause  of  East  India  missions.  And 
when  a  boy,  the  memoirs  that  narrated  her  voyage,  and 
exhibited  her  character  in  its  loveliness,  its  sweetness,  and 
its  piety,  melted  my  heart,  and  perhaps  was  among  the 
first  things  that  awakened  in  my  own  bosom  the  desire 
that  the  God  in  whom  she  confided  might  be  mine.  How, 
then,  would  I  stand  beside  that  grave,  which  contains  the 
dust  of  the  self-sacrificing  and  lovely  missionary,  who 
had  a  heart  which  embraced  in  its  benevolence  the  mil- 
lions of  India ;  and  though  delicate  in  her  feminine  loveli- 
ness, hesitated  not,  in  that  early  day  of  Christian  effort  for 
the  East,  to  dare  the  difficulties  that  attended  on  the  path 
of  the  strongest  and  the  roughest,  who  went  forth  with 
good  intent  for  the  salvation  of  the  benighted.  Peace- 
fully she  rests  in  the  green  island  of  cloves,  which  give 
their  spicy  richness  to  the  gale.  None  who  can  appre- 
ciate the  moral  beauty  of  virtue  in  its  loveliest  dress  can 
recall  thy  memory,  sweet  sleeper  of  the  ocean  isle,  and 
not  yield  thee  the  tribute  of  deferential  respect  and  love. 

This  evening,  at  about  sunset,  a  little  bird  came  down 
on  its  tired  wing,  and  lighted  on  our  ship.  The  quarter- 
master took  it,  and  brought  it  to  me.  It  is  far  away  from 
the  shore  for  such  a  little  wanderer  to  venture  ;  and  when 
taken,  manifested  no  symptom  of  alarm.  I  brought  the 
little  voyager  to  my  room,  and  penned  to  it  the  following 
lines : 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  149 


TO    A    BEAUTIFUL    LITTLE    BIRD, 

Which  lighted  on  the  deck  of  the  Columbia,  some  hundred  miles  and  more  to  the  leeward 
of  the  Isle  of  France. 

Sweet  bird  of  the  isle,  too  far  o'er  the  sea 
Thou  has  bent  thy  slight  wing — come  hither  to  me ; 
There's  none  that  will  harm  thee,  sweet  bird  of  the  isle, 
As  thou  on  this  bosom  shalt  rest  for  a  while. 

The  first  shade  of  night  is  on  the  dark  wave, 
And  the  zephyrs  of  eve  in  their  sea-dews  lave  ; 
And  thy  home  many  leagues  is  away  in  the  west, 
Thou  canst  not  reach  it — come  hither  and  rest. 

And  when  the  morn  breaks  with  its  first  ray  beaming, 
And  o'er  the  blue  sea  to  thy  green  isle  is  streaming, 
I'll  give  thee  to  thy  wing,  if  again  thou  wilt  dare 
To  cut  thy  fleet  way  through  the  deep  azure  air. 

But  thy  breast  is  now  beating,  lone  bird  of  the  isle, 
And  none  its  grief-breakings  hath  power  to  beguile ; 
Thou  drearnest  of  thy  left-one  'mong  bowers  of  the  clove, 
There  carolling  her  vesper  this  eve  in  the  grove : 

"  O  where,  O  where  is  my  lost-one,"  she  is  murmuring  now, 
"  That,  to-night,  he  returns  not  to  his  cinnamon  bough] 
The  soft  spicy  breezes  lose  their  sweetness  for  me, 
While  I  am  absent,  my  lost-one,  rny  lost-one,  from  thee !" 

But  cheer  thee,  little  bird  of  the  sweet  azure  crest, 

Again  thou  shalt  see  thy  green  isle  of  the  west ; 

We  will  bear  thee,  to-night,  full  many  leagues  on, 

And  thou  shalt  live  again,  and  love,  in  thy  own  spicy  home. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th,  we  made  land,  agreeably 
to  our  expectation,  and  corresponding  in  its  longitude  with 
the  time  of  our  chronometers.  It  is  the  island  of  Diego 
Rodriques,  long.  63°  7',  lat.  19°  ST.  It  presents,  the  south- 
ern extremity  of  it,  an  oval  outline  with  the  highest  point 
in  the  centre,  and  declining  either  way  with  a  nearly 
equal  curve.  It  is  composed  of  high  mountains  and  deep 
ravines,  while  it  sleeps  in  its  ocean-solitude,  in  undisturbed 
possession  of  the  crabs  and  turtles  frequenting  its  shores. 

13* 


150          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

SABBATH  OF  THE  9TH  OF  SEPTEMBER. 

We  have  taken  the  southeast  monsoons,  and  are  sailing 
delightfully  on  our  course.  It  is  a  lovely  day,  and  it  is  the 
Sabbath.  The  services  of  the  morning  are  over ;  and  a 
few  moments  since,  while  on  the  quarter-deck,  I  marked 
one  of  the  Lieutenants,  who  had  turned  from  the  view  of 
the  land  to  the  opposite  quarter  of  the  ship.  His  head  rested 
upon  his  hand,  and  his  elbow  upon  the  hammock-cloth ; 
while  his  cap  was  carelessly  held  in  his  other  hand,  which 
lay  listless  upon  the  netting  ;  but  his  thoughts  were  on 
wings,  I  doubt  not,  which  bore  him  to  loved  ones  far — 
how  far  away,  on  other  shores  !  And  this  was  not  all. 
His  were  not  only  thoughts  which  relate  to  this  life. 
None  loved  more  entirely  than  he ;  and  it  was  this  love 
which  now  bore  his  thoughts  up  to  the  Father  of  us  all,  for 
blessings  which  this  earth  cannot  give,  to  rest  on  the 
absent.  Oh,  there  is  a  hallowedness  in  those  breathings, 
which  go  forth  in  prayer  for  those  who  are  deeply  be- 
loved, when  the  soul  of  him  who  prayeth  hath  but  lately 
learned  to  feel  that  there  are  riches  beyond  this  world 
which  friends  dearer  to  him  than  life  may  attain,  and 
when  such  is  the  burden  of  his  prayer.  God  bless  those 
friends;  and  in  the  mysterious  commune  of  spirits,  may  the 
prayer  of  this  young  husband  bear  on  it,  by  the  way  of  the 
courts  of  heaven,  this  day,  a  blessing  which  shall  thrill  a 
kindred  chord  of  devotion  in  the  bosom  of  his  young  and 
amiable  bride,  and  consecrate  to  their  God  the  young 
years  of  their  boy,  who  has,  as  yet,  but  just  learned  to 
lisp  the  name  of  father  and  mother. 

While  reading,  to-day,  in  the  Memoir  of  the  accom- 
plished Henry  Martyn,  the  scholar  of  Cambridge  and  the 
missionary  to  the  Indies,  I  noted,  with  interest,  the  follow- 
ing passage :  "  Since  I  have  known  God  in  a  saving  man- 
ner, painting,  poetry,  and  music  have  had  charms  unknown 
to  me  before.  I  have  received  what  I  suppose  is  a  taste 
for  them  ;  for  religion  has  refined  my  mind,  and  made  it 
susceptible  of  impressions  from  the  sublime  and  beautiful. 
Oh  how  religion  secures  the  heightened  enjoyment  of  those 
pleasures  which  keep  so  many  from  God,  by  their  becom- 
ing a  source  of  pride  !" 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  151 

There  is  deep  truth  in  this  reflection ;  and  it  has  often 
impressed  my  own  mind  as  it  is  here  delineated  in  the 
words  of  Martyn.  And  I  once  heard  a  gentleman  of 
great  refinement  of  character,  taste  in  literature,  and  who 
minutely  observed  men  and  manners,  say,  that  there  was 
nothing  like  religion  to  give  beauty  of  expression  to  the 
countenance.  Why  should  it  not  be  so  ?  We  know  that 
the  muscles  of  the  face  are  exercised  by  the  emotions  of 
the  heart ;  and  those  emotions  which  are  most  frequently 
exercised  in  the  bosom  leave  the  evidence  of  their  frequent 
existence  demonstrated  on  the  countenance.  If,  therefore, 
the  benevolence  of  the  heart  towards  our  fellow-men, 
often  touch  our  sympathies — if  sympathy  for  the  distress- 
ed— if  ingenuousness  of  character,  rectitude  of  purpose, 
and  truth  in  principle,  are  all  habitually  waking  in  the 
bosom  and  controlling  the  mental  decisions  and  external 
actions  of  one  who  has  devoted  himself,  or  herself,  to  the 
discipleship  of  Christ,  how  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that 
these  feelings  should  chronicle  themselves  in  the  open,  and 
manly,  and  ingenuous  face  of  the  sincere  follower  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whose  religion  inculcates  good  will  to  all  men. 
And  these  are  the  virtues  and  the  excellencies  which  we  all 
admire,  wherever  they  are  seen  to  exist.  It  is  in  the  very- 
nature  of  our  constituent  being  to  admire  virtue  and  moral 
excellence,  as  much  so,  as  it  is  a  quality  of  the  physical 
eye  to  appreciate  physical  beauty.  Therefore,  where 
other  things  are  equal,  that  countenance  will  be  the  most 
lighted  up  by  that  inexpressible  and  often  indescribable 
charm,  which  gives  one  to  believe  that  he  reads,  in  the 
light  of  its  expression,  the  amiable  and  enchanting  quali- 
ties of  an  unseen  but  intelligibly  speaking  soul.  And 
when  a  character,  thus  refined  in  its  sensibilities  and  prin- 
ciples, goes  forth  to  look  on  nature,  her  beauties  chime  in 
with  such  a  character's  sympathies.  Nature,  in  all  her 
coloring  and  landscape  and  sublimity  in  effect,  exhibits  a 
perfection  in  the  Creative  Mind  that  conceived  and  spread 
such  beauties  forth  to  the  view ;  and  it  awakes,  in  the 
bosom  of  the  refined,  a  longing  desire  for  a  kindred  purity, 
that  his  spirit  may  be  untarnished  by  one  blemish.  And 
the  least  blemish,  wherever  seen  in  contrast  with  the  loveli- 
ness around  him,  in  his  growing  habit  of  refinement, 


152  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

gives  pain  to  the  increasing  delicacy  of  his  perceptions. 
And  with  this  deepened  refinement  of  spirit,  painting, 
poetry,  and  music,  made  up  of  beautiful  and  delicate 
harmonies  in  imagery,  sentiment,  and  sound,  come  home 
to  his  sensibilities,  and  the  soul  thrills  as  it  yields  to  the 
deep  tides  of  flowing,  and  beautiful,  and  refined  thought. 
No  man  nor  woman  hath  reached  that  delicacy  of  suscep- 
tibility, where  harmonies  find  the  deepest  chords  which 
nature  has  strung  in  our  bosom,  unless  the  element  of 
religion  lies  among  the  vibrating  strings  of  the  spirit.  It  is 
of  no  account  to  say  that  some  unholy  men  have  been  the 

greatest  poets,  and  that  many  holy  men  have  never  had 
ic  gift  of  poetry.  Byron  perceived  what  he  might  have 
enjoyed,  had  he  himself  been  all  that  his  mind  conceived  of 
the  pure,  the  beautiful,  and  the  refined.  We  read  his  con- 
fession in  the  sentiment,  when  the  prayer  of  one  who  was 
lovely,  and  young,  and  pure,  was  sent  to  him,  as  having 
been  penned  and  offered  up  to  her  God  for  him,  and  which, 
on  her  death,  had  been  found  among  her  private  papers. 
He  would  sooner  have  exchanged  all  the  glory  of  his  poetic 
fame  than  the  one  consciousness  that  such  a  prayer  had 
been  sent  to  heaven  in  his  behalf.  Byron  should  have 
been  a  Christian,  and  then  he  would  have  experienced  the 
happiness  rather  than  the  miseries  of  one  of  the  gifted  chil- 
dren of  poesy.  Pollock  was  such  ;  and  as  he  wrote,  he 
not  only  enjoyed  the  mental  perception  of  the  beautiful 
and  the  sublime,  but  his  heart  melted  in  the  depths  of  its 
profoundest  and  purest  sensibilities,  which  reached  the 
circumstances  of  his  whole  mental,  and  moral,  and  im- 
mortal being. 

On  the  twelfth,  a  dark  storm,  with  rain  and  thunder, 
attended  us,  and  reduced  the  ship  to  her  fore-course  and 
main-topsail,  close-reefed.  The  spindle  of  the  main  con- 
ductor was  illuminated  for  some  time,  and  I  stood,  for  a 
half  hour,  in  the  deep  darkness  of  the  night,  and  the  heavy 
peltings  of  the  rain,  on  deck,  to  watch  the  effect  of  the 
clouds,  charged  with  electricity,  upon  the  pointed  spars 
of  the  ship.  The  illuminated  point  of  the  spindle  appear- 
ed like  a  small  star,  and  lined  its  chord  of  light  on  the  dark 
zenith  as  the  ship  rolled,  but  at  times  disappeared,  or 
again  gave  forth  its  small  bead  of  light.  Before  I  ascend- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  153 

ed  to  the  deck,  the  officer  assured  me  that  the  truck  was 
considerably  more  illuminated,  and  a  phosphorescent  ap- 
pearance extended  some  inches  down  the  royal-mast. 

The  sailors  are,  confessedly,  a  superstitious  class,  very 
generally  believing  in  ghosts  and  various  kinds  of  spiritual 
appearances.  While  standing  upon  the  deck,  I  was 
amused  with  strange  stories,  each  one  being  ready  to  spin 
his  yarn  when  interrogated.  They  call  this  electrical  ap- 
pearance corpo-sant — the  St.  Elmo's  light  of  the  books, 
and  of  other  superstitious  times.  A  main-top-man  as- 
sured me  that  he  had  often  seen  the  corpo-sant  descend 
from  the  truck  to  the  deck,  and  ascend  again.  In  case  of 
its  rising  again  from  the  deck  to  the  truck,  it  is  deemed 
an  omen  of  approaching  good  weather.  But  should  the 
corpo-sant  descend  the  mast,  and  make  its  way  out  of  the 
lee-scupper,  then, 

"  There's  danger  on  the  deep,'1 

and  many  vessels,  under  such  circumstances,  are  known 
to  have  been  lost,  said  the  sailor,  with  all  their  crews. 

It  is  not  unusual,  during  a  stormy  night  like  this,  for 
the  three  trucks  of  a  ship  to  become  illuminated,  as  also 
the  ends  of  the  higher  yards.  This  phenomenon  is  of 
frequent  occurrence  off  Cape  Hatteras,  and  the  cause  must 
be  obvious,  as  an  electric  exhibition,  at  the  rounded  points 
of  the  spars  of  the  ship. 

Nature  never  tires  the  eye  of  the  admiring  gazer,  as  he 
lingers  his  vision  on  her  ever  changing  beauties.  The 
sunset  of  one  night  is  beautiful — the  next  may  equal  it 
for  its  brilliancy,  while  the  coloring  and  the  thousand 
fairy  forms  of  the  one  shall  differ  entirely  with  the  ever 
varying  forms  and  colors  of  the  other.  I  have  already, 
and  more  than  once,  alluded  to  the  beautiful  sunset  scenes, 
which  are  ever  presenting  themselves  to  us,  at  sea.  But 
the  scene  of  glory  spread  before  our  eye  on  the  evening 
of  the  13th,  in  our  west,  has  not  before  been  equalled  for 
its  coloring  and  variety  of  fantastic  forms ;  and  we  will 
call  it 


154  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


A    SUNSET    SCENE    IN    THE    SEAS    OF    ARABIA. 

And  what  is  there  of  the  imagination  that  does  riot  come 
forth  as  the  memory  recalls  the  olden  stories  and  fairy 
tales  of  that  enchanted  land — the  days  of  the  Caliphs — 
Yemen's  golden  mountains,  and  Oman's  emerald  waters  ? 
We  are  now  approaching  this  land  of  gorgeous  legends, 
and  in  a  few  days  more  may  lave  our  anchors  in  the  green 
waters  of  Oman.  And  just  as  we  are  entering  the  seas 
of  Arabia,  the  delight  is  not  a  little  augmented  by  the 
coincidence  that  presents  to  us,  to-night,  so  gorgeous  a 
sunset,  while  we  let  the  imagination  go  on  its  free  wing 
to  mingle  the  half-shady  memories  and  mystic  fictions  of 
the  past  with  the  brilliant  images  and  reality  of  the  present. 

A  summer's  shower  had  gone  over  us,  such  as  I  have 
known  at  the  north  in  June,  which  left  the  soft  and  moist 
air  to  rest  refreshingly  against  the  cheek.  The  clouds 
had  been  floating  on  their  way,  and  were  now  packing 
themselves  up  in  the  south  and  west,  leaving  vacant  fields 
in  the  sky,  deep  and  vast,  where  they  seemed  to  have  laid 
off  the  beautiful  spaces,  as  if  they  had  thought  on  this  night 
as  the  hour  for  making  the  greatest  display  of  their  mag- 
nificence and  loveliness.  The  sun  had  sunk  his  veiled 
disk  beneath  the  western  rim  of  the  ocean,  and  sent  back 
upon  the  clouds  his  beams,  in  his  greatest  prodigality  ; 
while  these  aerial  vapors  had  disposed  themselves  in  fan- 
tastic lines,  as  if  they  sought  to  be  peculiar  this  night. 
One  long  cirro-stratus  stretched  itself  in  a  horizontal  line, 
midway  in  the  scene,  dark,  and  low,  and  long ;  and  above 
and  below  were  oblique  layers  so  converging  on  the  green 
back-ground  of  the  sky,  as  to  exhibit  the  appearance  of 
an  undulating  sea  of  paling  green,  sending  back  from  its 
unbroken  and  mirroring  surface  a  sheet  of  light,  in  deli- 
cate and  softest  beauty.  Not  the  gossamer  zone  of  lady 
ever  floated  so  lightly  as,  here  and  there,  waved  the  elon- 
gated curls  of  fleecy  vapors,  in  their  different  hues  of 
lightest  pink,  and  blue,  and  palest  gold,  while  the  heavier 
layers  of  clouds  piled  themselves  in  strata  upon  strata, 
and  all  were  illuminated  with  every  tint  of  mingling 
scarlet  and  carmine  and  deepest  Indian  red,  such  a^s 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          155 

painters  might  wish,  to  give  the  highest  coloring  to  the 
cheek. 

But  it  was  the  arrangement  of  the  clouds,  to-night, 
which  mostly  struck  my  eye,  and  awakened  my  interest, 
though  nature's  colorings  shone  forth  in  their  indescrib- 
able magnificence.  There,  around  the  gorgeous  horizon, 
lay  all  the  cities  of  the  East,  as  they  had  rilled  our  young 
minds  and  vivid  imaginations,  with  all  their  turrets  and 
domes  and  embattled  ramparts,  notching  themselves  along 
the  line  of  the  glowing  horizon.  But  one  scene,  more 
than  the  rest,  attracted  the  long  gaze  of  my  own  eye, 
willingly  lingering  on  the  princely  vision.  Two  parallel 
rows  of  clouds  were  so  piled,  as  to  give  the  perspective 
of  a  spacious  avenue,  lined,  on  either  side,  with  palaces 
and  castles,  embowered  in  regular  rows  of  ornamental 
and  towering  trees,  extending  from  the  rim  of  the  ocean 
far  across  the  area  of  the  wide  city,  to  a  curve  in  a  crys- 
tal and  expanded  river,  that  seemed  to  wind,  for  leagues, 
in  the  back-ground.  It  opened  directly  in  our  front ;  and 
in  its  distance,  this  princely  street,  at  this  hour,  seemed 
animated  with  the  equipages  of  nobles  and  the  luxurious, 
on  their  evening  and  pleasure  drives,  now  returning  to 
their  several  homes  ere  the  night-fall  gathered  over  them. 
I  gazed  until  the  twilight  of  evening  left  those  distant  halls, 
and  battlements,  and  turrets,  arid  equipages,  in  the  dun 
of  earliest  eve ;  while  only  some  few  of  the  latest  strag- 
glers here  and  there  seemed  to  be  driving  on  a  belated 
course,  at  the  hour  when  night  is  soon  to  wrap  all  alike 
in  her  deep  and  dark  mantle  of  shadows  and  forgetfulness. 

All  on  board  the  frigate  were  gazing,  from  their  several 
places,  on  this  gorgeous  scene. 

"  There,  Mr.  T.,"  said  the  Commodore,  as  he  turned  to 
me  from  the  horseblock,  "is  a  scene  for  poetry.  I  think 
we  may  hear  of  it  again.  We  are  near  enough  to  the 
waters  of  Arabia  to  lay  the  scene  in  her  seas." 

"  And  a  lady  in  Rio,  you  know,  sir,  told  me  that  she 
knew  I  was  a  poet,  the  first  time  she  saw  me.  And  I  as- 
sured her  that  she  was  early  to  find  out,  what  nature  had 
never  yet  discovered." 

"  Your  modesty,  Mr.  T." 

"  At  least  I  can  fancy  that  the  breeze  this  evening  snuffs 


156  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  balmy  Araby  ;  and  the  whole  scene  is  in  keeping  with 
the  tales  of  enchantment,  which  have  lain,  like  fairy  spells, 
in  the  imagination  from  our  infancy,  as  we  have  thought 
of  the  storied  land  of  the  East.  It  is  association,  as  I 
take  it,  which  delights  the  voyager,  as  he  nears,  and  as 
he  stands  on  olden  ground,  rather  than  the  things  of  the 
present  which  meet  his  eye  around  him.  He  cares  not 
though  he  treads  on  ruins,  if  the  past  be  in  his  memory 
and  musings  ;  and  he  chooses  fiction  rather  than  the  re- 
ality, if  that  fiction  has  before  delighted  him.  Araby  once 
had  the  reputation  of  all  the  East.  She  is  now  only 
Araby,  by  herself.  The  Sultan  of  Muscat,  however,  is  a 
lion  of  modern  times,  that  may  justly  awake  our  curiosity 
and  admiration." 

"  Yes  ;  and  I  would,"  continued  the  Commodore,  as  he 
held  his  hand  up  to  the  gentle  breeze,  "  that  these  prog- 
nostics of  a  change  of  wind  might  come  from  this  quarter, 
and  a  few  more  days  would  give  us  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  Sultan.  But  had  we  a  suitable  present  for  his  High- 
ness, and  five  thousand  dollars  to  give  him  an  entertain- 
ment becoming  his  generous  hospitality,  we  should  be  ad- 
ditionally gratified.  But  mark  you  that  pile  of  dark  pil- 
lars rising  in  the  continued  changes  of  the  sky,  in  that 
expanse  of  exquisite  green,  so  like  an  ocean,  thereaway  ?" 

"  It  looks  like  the  dark  sugar-loaf,  as  the  masses  now 
crowd  together,  and  reminds  me  of  the  beautiful  moon-rise 
scene,  that  smiled  on  our  first  making  the  city  of  St.  Se- 
bastian, which  should  have  been  built  of  rock.  I  thought, 
as  I  marked  the  beds  of  beautiful  granite  inwalling  the 
city  of  Rio  on  its  three  sides,  that  Don  Pedro,  with  his 
Brazilian  gold  and  diamonds  and  agricultural  resources, 
if  he  had  possessed  any  energy,  should  have  been  able  to 
say,  when  exiled  from  his  western  capital,  '  I  found  the 
city  in  mortar  and  pebbles  ;  I  leave  it  a  city  of  granite  ;' 
in  imitation  of  the  Roman,  who  left  the  seven-hill  city  of 
brick,  a  city  of  marble." 

"  Tea  is  ready,  sir,"  said  a  servant,  as  he  approached 
and  touched  his  hat  to  the  Commodore.  [Exeunt  omnes.] 

It  is  not  a  frequent  coincidence,  in  the  run  of  a  ship, 
for  the  vessel  to  pass  the  equatorial  line  at  meridian  and 
under  a  clear  sun.  In  our  own  case  to-day,  however, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  157 

Sept.  17th,  we  found  ourselves,  at  noon,  five  minutes,  or 
five  miles,  north  of  the  equatorial  line,  of  which,  had  it  not 
been  an  imaginary  circle,  we  could  have  had  a  fair  view. 
The  declination  of  the  sun  was  only  2°,  and  consequently 
nearly  perpendicular.  The  shadows  of  the  men  looked 
like  crabs  as  they  were  passing  fore  and  aft  the  decks.  I 
suspended  a  broom,  at  the  moment  of  twelve,  and  the 
shadow  of  the  handle  could  not  be  seen,  so  nearly  vertical 
was  the  sun.  For  a  few  moments  before  twelve  it  seemed 
doubtful  whether  the  sun  would  dip  ahead  or  abaft  of  us, 
our  ship  standing,  at  the  time,  on  a  north  course.  But 
when  the  sun  had  reached  its  highest  point,  the  sextant 
brought  its  reflected  disk  to  the  rim  of  the  ocean,  ahead 
of  us.  To-morrow  the  sun  and  ourselves  will  have  chang- 
ed sides  with  each  other,  and  a  long  sweep  remains  for 
each  of  us  before  we  shall  again  meet  and  reciprocate 
our  passing  compliments. 

A  bird  was  sent  to  my  room  this  morning  before  I  had 
plumed  my  own  wings  to  venture  from  my  nest.  It  came 
at  the  direction  of  the  Commodore,  who  has  been  abroad 
earlier  than  myself.  It  is  a  true  Arabian — of  whom  we 
think  as  of  a  rover  that  has  designs  upon  his  neighbor — 
with  the  eye  of  a  hawk,  the  fleetness  of  his  own  Arab 
steed,  and  the  strength  and  the  agility  of  the  dromedary. 
The  bird  is  an  Arabian  falco,  that  lives  by  his  predatory 
excursions,  and  eats  his  weaker  neighbors,  when  he  can 
catch  them.  And  notwithstanding  his  own  merciless  na- 
ture, it  was  a  long  colloquy  between  my  conscience, 
humanity,  and  love  of  the  curious,  whether  said  falco 
should  be  considered  as  having  forfeited  his  life  by  his 
previous  course,  which  course,  however,  was  to  be  judged 
of  only  by  circumstantial  evidence  and  reasonings  a  priori. 
It  was  at  length  decided  that  a  preparation  should  be 
made  of  him,  and  my  servant  boy  was  directed  to  place 
his  hand  so  as  to  press  the  breast  of  the  bird  that  it  might 
not  expand,  and  to  place  his  fingers  around  its  neck.  The 
beautifully  speckled  falco,  with  his  dun-colored  and  dark- 
spotted  plumage,  in  a  moment  saw  no  more  from  those 
large,  round,  and  beautiful  dark  eyes,  though  they  had 
looked  on  so  many  beautiful  things  of  nature,  and  with 
the  quickness  of  light  had  seen  and  seized  his  weaker 

14 


158  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

prey.  He  did  not  even  flap  his  wings,  and  seemed  un- 
conscious of  pain,  so  suddenly  and  so  completely  did  he 
lose  his  breath. 

I  can  seldom  bring  myself  to  a  willingness  to  destroy 
the  life  of  a  bird,  or  other  animal,  merely  for  my  own 
pleasure  of  preserving  him  to  fill  a  niche  in  a  private  mu- 
seum. And  I  admire  that  delicacy  of  feeling  which 
caused  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  on  perceiving  a 
serpent  endeavoring  to  devour  a  toad,  to  alight  from  his 
carriage,  and  separate  them — giving  each  a  switching, 
and  sending  them  about  their  business.  But  on  board  of 
ship,  the  birds  which  alight  upon  her  spars  and  rigging, 
are  generally  so  far  spent  that  they  do  not  recover,  and 
will  not  eat  or  drink.  The  same  day  a  pretty  little  swal- 
low was  brought  to  me,  and  with  a  desire  to  cherish  its 
life  I  placed  it  in  one  of  the  side  lanterns  of  the  ship,  with 
the  intention  of  bearing  it  nearer  to  the  land,  that  it  might 
find  its  way  back  again  to  its  green  bowers  and  sylvan 
tents.  But  it  died  during  the  night.  This  was  also  the 
sad  fate  of  the  pretty  bird  that  came  aboard  of  us  at  the 
leeward  of  the  Isle  of  France ;  and  all  my  kind  desires 
that  it  might  reach  its  green  land-home  again,  failed  of  their 
gratification.  It  died,  as  I  watched  its  last  pulsations,  on 
my  handkerchief.  And  though  my  sympathies  could 
avail  it  nothing,  the  incident  bore  me  many  leagues  over 
the  seas,  where  I  remembered  to  have  seen  a  sweet  young 
lady,  sitting  in  pensive  mood,  with  her  long  dark  eyelashes 
nearly  closed,  as  her  neck,  with  a  gentle  curve,  bent  to 
gaze  on  her  pretty  canary,  which  lay  imbedded  on  her 
rich  laced  handkerchief,  and  was  dying.  Each  pulsation 
of  its  yellow  plumed  bosom  was  watched  with  a  languish- 
ing air  of  sentiment,  as  the  little  sleeper  lay  in  her  lap ; 
and  when  the  last  beat  of  its  heart  had  stopped,  and  the 
convulsed  wings  extended  themselves,  and  its  delicate 
feet  contracted,  and  all  then  was  over,  one  long  sigh 
swelled  that  young  lady's  bosom,  and  a  tear  filled  her  ab- 
stracted eye.  Who  will  say  that  such  a  tear  was  ill-spent 
over  the  death  of  that  beautiful  little  bird  ? 

There  was  a  beautiful  eclipse  of  the  moon  this  evening, 
October  3d,  and  we  were  every  way  favorably  situated 
to  observe  it,  in  the  Arabian  sea.  The  night  was  clear, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  159 

and  the  sea  smooth,  while  we  were  gliding  on  our  course, 
with  our  sails  sufficiently  filled  to  keep  the  ship  steady. 
The  air  was  mild  and  delightful.  The  officer  of  the 
deck  sent  for  me ;  and  when  I  reached  the  upper  deck, 
the  earth's  shadow  had  already  covered  ten  digits  of  the 
moon's  disk.  The  heavens  were  lighted  by  the  bright 
stars,  now  streaming  in  their  greatest  brilliance  from  out 
an  Indian  heaven,  while  the  northern  edge  of  the  moon 
gleamed  in  its  narrow  strip  of  light,  only  to  render  the 
gloom  beneath  her  on  the  ocean  yet  more  sickly  and 
drear,  while  the  stars  above  and  around  lay  in  their  love- 
liness, deep  in  their  dark  concave  above  us. 

Even  philosophers  are  sometimes  so  much  the  things 
of  habit  in  their  associations,  that  we  had  not  bethought 
ourselves  that  an  eclipse,  invisible  in  the  United  States, 
would  be  in  full  view  to  the  eye  that  gazed  at  it  in  the 
Indian  seas.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  however,  as  pre- 
sented to  our  observation.  The  gorgeous  queen  seemed 
to  have  taken  the  whim  of  a  quakeress  to-night,  in  her 
attire  of  the  light  dun  of  her  gossamer  dress.  I  contem- 
plated her  changes  with  interest,  first  with  the  naked  eye, 
then  through  the  common  night-glass,  afterwards  through 
a  larger  inverted  telescope,  which  exhibited  her  appear- 
ances yet  more  interesting,  in  her  contrasts  of  colors. 
The  shadow  exhibited  the  appearance  of  the  richest  am- 
ber; and  the  brilliant  stream  of  light,  that  gleamed  in  a 
small  line  on  the  northern  rim,  as  it  increased  its  field 
while  the  shadow  receded,  presented  an  area  resembling 
a  surface  of  purest  snow,  reflecting  back  a  flood  of  light 
in  contrast  with  the  amber  of  the  shadow. 

We  envied  our  friends  on  the  18th  of  the  last  month, 
the  opportunity  of  gazing  at  the  annular  eclipse  of  the 
sun.  No  evidence  of  a  frown  gathering  over  his  face, 
appeared  to  us.  And  the  privilege  we  enjoyed  in  con- 
templating the  scene  of  to-night,  from  the  mid-ocean, 
might  justly  excite  their  envy  towards  us,  could  friends, 
in  their  kindness  of  heart,  ever  indulge  such  a  feeling  to- 
wards those  of  their  number  when  far  away,  for  the 
occasional  pleasures  which  come  across  their  course. 


160  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


A    LAZY    SHIP    WAKIXG    AGAIN    TO    LIFE. 

Our  ship  has  been  sleeping  for  some  fortnight  and 
more  in  the  calm  waters  of  the  Arabian  seas,  as  if  she, 
like  the  rest  of  us,  had  become  unnerved  by  the  relaxing 
heat  of  these  latitudes.  We  have  made  but  little  pro- 
gress, from  day  to  day.  The  sea  has  presented,  often,  an 
unruffled  bosom.  Around  us  occasionally,  the  thousand 
colored  and  beautiful  dolphins  have  been  seen,  and  the 
rudder-fish  adhering,  as  if  it  were  life  and  death  with 
him,  to  the  course  of  the  ship.  The  waters  in  these  seas 
are  remarkably  phosphorescent.  At  night,  a  sponge, 
dipped  into  a  bucket  freshly  filled  from  the  sea,  will  be- 
come bespangled  entirely  with  the  brilliant  phosphorescent 
points,  giving  forth  their  light  from  a  thousand  small  glob- 
ules, that  coat  the  surface  to  which  they  adhere.  And 
when  the  water  is  dashed  upon  the  deck  these  thousand  lit- 
tle brilliants  cover  the  moistened  space.  But  when  a  light 
is  brought  to  observe  the  animalcules  themselves,  which 
are  supposed  to  give  forth  these  phosphorescent  appear- 
ances, not  one  can  be  detected.  At  least,  on  several 
occasions  I  have  made  the  examination  with  others,  and 
without  success ;  though  these  illuminated  particles  are 
perfectly  perceptible  to  the  eye  in  the  dark,  and  on  placing 
your  finger  upon  them,  as  they  adhere  to  any  surface, 
they  give  forth  a  brighter  illumination,  and  can  be  suf- 
fused over  a  larger  space  by  compression,  as  a  small  par- 
ticle of  glutinous  matter  would  extend  itself  when  the 
finger  was  drawn,  with  a  pressure,  over  it.  I  can  ima- 
gine that  these  seas  should  sometimes  exhibit  one  unbroken 
sheet  of  phosphorescent  light,  as  it  has  been  affirmed  of 
them,  as  seen  in  some  instances.  And  on  one  evening, 
as  our  vessel  was  gliding  gently  through  the  water,  which 
was  undulating  with  an  unbroken  surface,  the  dark  sea 
near  u^  seemed  but  a  counterpart  of  the  bespangled  arch 
above  us,  as  we  looked  into  the  deep  concave  below,  illu- 
minated by  a  thousand  points  of  these  phosphorescent 
and  twinkling  globules,  which  the  imagination  placed  as 
far  off  and  beneath  us  as  the  orbs  that  gleamed  hi  their 
distant  and  far-off  halls  above  us. 


" 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  161 

For  several  days  have  we  been  gliding  through  such  a 
sea,  lazily  indeed,  and  where  alone  we  have,  during  our 
voyage,  seeri*the  expanded  bosom  of  the  ocean  exhibit  its 
vast  surface  as  a  mirror  in  its  smoothness  and  reflecting 
powers.  But  to-day  our  courser  has  aroused  herself,  and 
seems  moving  with  awakened  speed  on  her  way,  as  if 
she  had  again  come  to  her  remembrance  that  there  was 
something  to  be  done,  and  dreaming  was  not  always  to 
be  indulged  in  by  one  who  bears  a  nation's  messages  and 
commission  around  the  world. 


S'ECTION  vn. 

MUSCAT. 

Off  Muscat.  Night  signals.  First  view  of  Muscat.  Title  of  Imam.  Visit 
of  the  Commodore  to  the  Imam.  Commodore  Read's  letter  to  his  High- 
ness. Letter  and  lines  from  the  Author  to  the  Sultan.  Also  letter  to  the 
young  Imam.  Note  of  Syed  Bin  Calfaun.  The  burial  of  a  seaman  at 
Muscat.  Author's  visit  to  Captain  Calfaun.  Sentiment  of  the  Sultan  as 
it  respects  the  residence  of  Missionaries.  The  Sultan's  horses.  Visit  of 
the  young  Sultan  to  the  frigate.  Camp  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs.  Banyans. 
Bedouin  Chief.  Captain  Syed  Bin  Calfaun.  Generosity  of  the  Sultan 
of  Muscat.  Syed  Syeed  Bin  Soultan's  family. 

THIS  morning,  October  18th,  we  find  ourselves  off  Mus- 
cat, the  wished-for  port,  for  which  we  have  been  steering 
over  a  long  track  of  water  since  we  left  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
We  have  been  eighty  days  at  sea  since  we  left  the  South 
American  coast.  Last  night  we  deemed  ourselves  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  harbor,  and  with  all  our  studding-sails 
set,  endeavored  to  press  the  ship  up  to  a  point,  at  which, 
as  we  rounded  it,  we  expected  we  should  discover  the  har- 
bor. But  the  sun  delayed  not  on  his  declining  course,  and 
lost  himself  behind  the  serrated  range  of  hills  of  the  Ara- 
bian coast,  along  which  we  had  been  standing  during  the 
day,  before  we  could  weather  the  low  and  elongated  bluff. 
As  the  sun  declined  beyond  the  cragged  highland,  he  still 

14* 


162 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          163 

sent  back  his  rays,  to  bless  our  eyes  with  a  long  twilight. 
But  the  point  was  too  far  to  be  gained  by  the  ship  before 
the  shades  of  evening  had  spread  over  the  sea ;  and  no 
one  on  board,  with  any  confidence,  could  point  out  the 
entrance  to  the  harbor,  as  we  were  approaching  it.  Hav- 
ing tacked  ship,  and  re-examined  our  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, which  placed  us,  according  to  our  best  authorities, 
directly  off  the  harbor  of  Muscat,  we  continued  to  stand 
some  points  more  off,  but  along  the  shore. 

We  had  spoken  a  vessel  a  day  or  two  before,  direct  from 
Muscat,  who  reported  an  American  armed  vessel  there, 
having  arrived  five  days  before  from  Zanzebar.  We  con- 
cluded of  course  that  the  John  Adams  had  arrived  in 
safety  before  us ;  and  if  still  in  the  harbor,  bearing  as  we 
presumed  it  did  from  us,  she  might  be  able  to  mark  our 
night  signals,  and  return  them.  The  gunner,  therefore, 
was  ordered  to  send  up  a  number  of  rockets,  which  traced 
their  stream  of  light  through  the  air,  exploded,  and  illu- 
mined, with  a  faint  flitter,  the  dark  waters  beneath  them, 
and  expired.  But  no  coruscating  light,  in  the  distance, 
announced  that  there  was  one  living  being  on  that  iron- 
bound  and  apparently  desolate  shore,  who  marked  that  a 
noble  frigate  was  within  a  few  miles  of  the  secluded  capi- 
tal of  the  Arabian  Sultan.  And  the  hills  of  rock,  deeply 
cut  by  vast  chasms  into  unequal  and  fearful  ravines,  are 
so  high  that  the  Adams,  if  she  is  now  lying  at  Muscat, 
most  probably  could  not  have  caught  the  gleam  of  our 
rockets. 

But,  this  morning,  having  made  a  gentle  slant  to  the 
west  and  north  during  the  night,  we  see  a  little  notch  in 
the  side  of  the  elevated  land,  seven  or  ten  miles  distant. 
It  looks  as  if  a  niche  had  been  made  in  one  of  the  bluffs 
extending  along  the  shore ;  and  there,  as  if  it  were  an 
eagle's  eyry,  in  its  wild  and  still  solitude,  is  perched  a  cas- 
tle ;  and  there,  too,  the  glasses  discover  to  be  the  entrance 
to  the  inwalled  cove,  on  which  is  situated  the  city  of  Mus- 
cat. A  small  and  light-colored  island,  as  it  shows  itself 
in  the  beams  of  this  morning's  sun,  lies  off  the  cove,  as  if 
it  were  a  buoy  thrown  adrift,  to  mark  the  entrance  to  the 
little  bay  of  Muscat.  And  on  a  range,  higher  up  than  the 
castle,  and  nearer  to  us,  are  seen  two  watch-towers, which 


164          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

occupy  the  elevated  heights  half  way  up  the  sides  of  the 
most  elevated  line  of  the  hills,  and  perched  on  some  peak 
of  lesser  mountains.  It  is  all  a  wild  scene,  but  unique  and 
interesting.  Not  one  spear  of  grass  or  leaf  of  green,  or 
relief  of  tree  is  seen  upon  the  notched  outline  of  the  dark 
rocks  which  are  lying  far  back  and  near,  cragged,  and  sha- 
ded by  each  other,  or  throwing  back  their  reflected  light, 
as  the  sun  this  morning  pours  its  beams  upon  the  steril  and 
hard  surfaces  of  the  broken  and  rocky  heights.  Ere  long 
we  shall  glide  nearer  and  through  the  rocky  inlet ;  and 
there  we  hope  to  meet  our  consort,  after  a  long  separation  ; 
and  then  we  will  assure  his  Highness,  the  Sultan  of  Mus- 
cat, that  we  value  his  generous  dealings  with  our  nation, 
and  that  we  are  friendly  in  the  purposes  of  our  visit  and 
future  designs  in  his  seas. 

While  writing  the  preceding,  an  Arabian  pilot  came  off 
to  our  ship,  in  a  canoe,  paddled  by  two  slaves.  He  advan- 
ced to  the  officer  of  the  deck  with  perfect  ease,  and  exhib- 
ited a  person,  clad  in  his  flowing  gown,  sash,  and  turban, 
with  a  kinger,  ornamented  with  a  silver  handle,  stuck,  like 
a  bowie-knife,  in  his  girdle.  We  learned  from  him  that 
the  John  Adams  has  been  at  Muscat,  and  left  there  for 
Bombay,  four  days  since. 

With  the  light  sea-breeze  of  the  morning  we  continued 
to  approach  the  harbor,  and  have  now  rounded  the  castel- 
lated point  on  the  east  of  the  cove,  and  moored  our  ship 
in  full  view  of  the  city  of  Muscat.  And  the  scene  pre- 
sented before  us  is  like — Muscat.  What  else  it  resembles 
I  can  scarcely  define.  But  it  is  peculiar,  interesting,  and 
Arabesque.  Here,  enclosing  the  city  on  three  of  its  sides, 
stands  the  mighty  rock,  crowned  with  castles  and  various 
small  turrets  and  towers,  around  the  picturesque  cove. 
And  there  was  never  any  thing  that  is  mean  in  rock.  It 
is  ever  grand,  and  gives  us  the  idea  of  power,  durability, 
and  immoveable  prowess.  Ages  on  ages  roll  by,  and 
still  it  stands,  to  laugh  at  the  tempest,  and  to  gaze  with  a 
heart  of  flint  on  the  generations  of  mortals  which  the  earth 
sends  to  their  graves,  while  the  mountain-rock  sheds  but 
its  disintegrated  particles,  from  its  enduring  bulwarks,  to 
the  plains. 

We  had  let  go  our  anchors  but  a  short  time  before  a 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  165 

number  of  Arabian  boats  pulled  around  our  ship,  and  a 
few  of  the  Arabs  came  on  board  in  their  characteristic  cos- 
tumes. In  a  few  moments  after,  Captain  Syed  Bin  Calfaun, 
with  the  newly  arrived  Amerfcan  Consul,  pulled  off  to  the 
ship.  They  spent  a  short  time  with  the  Commodore,  and 
soon  after  their  leaving  the  ship  a  salute  was  fired,  in  com- 
pliment to  his  Highness,  the  Sultan  of  Muscat.  Our  salute 
was  instantly  returned  by  the  forts  on  three  sides  of  the 
cove,  two  of  which  are  almost  within  gunshot  of  our  frig- 
ate. Scarcely  could  a  finer  effect  have  been  produced 
than  by  the  reverberating  echoes  which  our  cannon  pro- 
longed around  this  rocky  inlet.  I  have  heard,  on  Lake 
George,  its  justly  admired  reverberations  to  the  sound  of 
the  bugle,  and  in  repeating  the  thunder  of  a  piece  of  artil- 
lery ;  and  can  imagine  the  grandeur  of  the  effect,  were  the 
good  ship  Columbia's  cannon  discharged  over  its  waters 
and  among  its  surrounding  hills.  But  here,  the  echoes  of 
the  inwalled  cove  were  repeated  in  quicker  and  shorter 
reverberations,  yet  sublime  and  peculiar  in  their  retreating 
succession,  until  lost,  like  connected  crashes  of  thunder,  as 
they  rolled  along  the  most  extended  side  of  the  rocks,  and 
were  spent  in  low  thunder  in  the  opening  towards  the  sea. 
It  was  indescribably  fine.  The  repetition  of  the  first 
cannon  had  not  ceased  its  rapid  succession  of  reverbera- 
tions on  each  of  the  three  sides  of  the  cove,  until  the  next 
gun  spoke  to  the  yet  vibrating  air,  to  be  repeated  in  its 
turn,  until  the  succeeding  gun  prolonged  the  sound.  And 
when  our  own  cannon  had  ceased  their  handsome  fire  of 
twenty-one  guns,  the  forts  immediately  opened,  and  return- 
ed the  salute,  as  the  hills  seemed  to  have  awoke  from  a 
silence  of  ages,  to  give  forth  their  burning  fires  and  sleep- 
ing thunders. 

Just  previous  to  our  reaching  the  place  of  our  mooring, 
our  Hindoostanee,  who  has  been  nicknamed  Handsaw, 
(whose  real  name  is  Hassan  Hassaul,)  seemed  greatly 
delighted  that  he  had  gotten  into  a  region  where  he  might 
find  cast,  in  color  and  language.  When  the  Arab  came 
on  board,  the  said  Handsaw,  being  the  steerage  cook,  was 
not  in  the  habit  of  wearing  either  hat,  cap,  or  chapeau. 
But  after  his  first  interview  with  the  Arab,  he  disappeared 
beneath  the  hatches,  and  when  again  seen,  a  purser's  new 


166  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

handkerchief,  as  a  turban,  was  upon  his  head.  This  was 
not  objected  to.  But  when  the  word  was  passed  for  all 
hands  to  clean  themselves,  as  is  usual  when  nearing  a 
port,  Hindoostanee  Handsaw  re-appeared  on  deck,  clad  in 
petticoats,  sash,  and  turban.  Approaching  the  First  Lieu- 
tenant, with  great  hesitation  and  considerable  stammering, 
as  if  he  had  already  committed  a  punishable  offence,  he 
at  length,  with  an  oblique  glance  at  his  own  unique  gar- 
ments, muttered  out,  "Fashion  of  the  country,  sar — these 
country  fashion,  sar" — by  all  of  which  he  meant  to  say, 
If  you  please,  I  will  dress  after  my  own  cast.  "  Get  out 
of  that,  you  rascal,  you,"  cried  the  Lieutenant,  to  the  great 
dismay  of  the  brown  Handsaw — "get  out  of  that  instantly, 
or  I  will  have  you  at  the  gangway,  sir  !"  Hassan  Hand- 
saw sunk  beneath  the  hatches,  to  appear  no  more  in  his 
suit  Hindoostanee. 

We  learn  from  Captain  Calfaun,  that  his  Highness,  Syed 
Syeed  Bin  Soultan,  Sultan  of  Muscat,  as  he  is  styled  in 
the  treaty,  and  in  the  descriptions  of  Muscat,  as  they  have 
been  given  in  the  narratives  of  the  two  voyages  of  the  U. 
S.  ship  Peacock,  has  left  Muscat,  and  is  now  at  Zanzebar, 
where  he  has  been  residing  for  two  or  three  years,  having 
left  Muscat  soon  after  the  Peacock's  second  departure  from 
this  place.  The  son  of  Syed  Syeed  Soultan,  whom  his 
father  has  left  there,  receives  the  title  of  his  father.  And 
this  title,  instead  of  being  Sultan,  is  here  called,  by  the 
Arabs,  Imam,  pronounced  Ee-maum.  But  both  the  Ameri- 
cans and  the  English,  as  a  title  more  familiar  to  their  ear, 
style  him  Sultan,  in  imitation  of  the  title  of  the  Grand 
Seignior  of  the  Turks. 

This  morning  the  Commodore  waited  upon  the  young 
Imam,  or  Sultan,  as  we  shall  continue  to  style  him,  being 
the  heir  apparent  to  his  father's  possessions,  and  his  repre- 
sentative here  in  his  father's  absence.  Captain  Calfaun  had 
come  on  board  the  frigate  to  accompany  the  Commodore 
and  the  officers  who  attended  him,  to  the  palace,  which  is 
a  large  but  plain  building,  situated  directly  on  the  edge  of 
the  bay.  We  landed  near  the  residence  of  Captain  Cal- 
faun, and  proceeded  to  his  house,  where  we  remained  until 
Captain  C.  himself  repaired  to  the  palace,  (kings'  houses, 
all  know,  are  called  palaces,)  to  inform  his  Highness  that 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  167 

the  Commodore  was  on  his  way  to  wait  upon  him.  On 
the  return  of  Captain  C.,  (a  few  moments  having  expired, 
which  we  had  spent  in  looking  at  the  match-locks  and  Ara- 
bian sabres  ornamenting  the  walls  of  the  room  where  we 
were  sitting,)  he  conducted  us  along  a  number  of  winding 
and  narrow  streets ;  and  having  passed  through  crowds 
of  half  naked  Arabs,  turbaned  Arabs,  gracefully  robed 
Arabs,  and  yellow,  red,  and  dark-skinned  Arabs,  all  entirely 
respectful  in  the  indulgence  of  their  curiosity,  we  at  length 
came  to  the  gate  of  the  palace,  which  opened  from  the 
narrow  street  to  a  passage-way  leading  to  the  court,  around 
which  the  walls  of  the  dwelling  are  built.  The  walls  of 
this  passage-way  were  studded  with  all  manner  of  war- 
like weapons,  from  the  gun  with  its  match-lock,  to  Damas- 
cus blades  in  leather  scabbards,  kingers,  not  unlike  a  bowie- 
knife,  and  spears,  all  having  about  them  a  peculiar  look  of 
antiquity,  either  from  their  much  use,  or  age,  or  fashion ; 
and  the  match-lock,  in  particular,  would  have  astonished 
the  sportsmen  of  the  modern  school  of  percussion  caps 
and  wafer  wads.  At  this  point,  we  passed  through  a  line 
of  his  Highness's  guards,  whose  arms  were  decorating  the 
walls  ;  and  then,  proceeding  along  the  court  containing  a 
few  orange  trees  and  stunted  bananas,  we  entered  a  hall 
or  passage-way,  leading  from  the  court  to  a  piazza,  called 
by  others,  the  divan.  This  passage  was  lined  by  a  number 
of  better  dressed  guards,  with  kingers  in  their  girdles,  orna- 
mented with  silver  hilts.  They  saluted  us  as  we  passed. 
The  piazza  or  saloon  overlooks  the  harbor,  the  water 
washing  the  wall  on- which  it  is  based,  with  a  full  view  of 
the  shipping  and  the  elevated  and  castellated  rocks,  which 
inwall  this  picturesque  cove.  The  piazza  runs  the  whole 
width  of  the  building ;  and  the  upper  end  of  it  was  car- 
peted with  Persian  rugs,  with  settees  and  chairs  arranged 
at  its  sides.  His  Highness  was  standing,  with  four  or  five 
of  his  friends  and  advisers  on  his  left,  ready  to  receive  us, 
as  we  entered.  The  Commodore  and  his  officers  were 
severally  greeted  by  his  Highness  and  his  friends,  with  a 
familiar  shake  of  the  hand,  after  our  own  American  style 
of  meeting,  each  one  then  taking  a  seat,  the  Commodore 
near  the  Sultan,  as  Captain  Calfaun  placed  himself  nearly 
opposite  the  Prince  and  next  to  myself,  in  the  range  of  our 
party. 


168  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  Prince  was  glad  to  welcome  the  frigate  Columbia 
into  this  port,  he  said,  and  hoped  the  Commodore  and  his 
officers  were  well,  and  inquired  after  the  health  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Commodore  Read  made  the  usual  replies ;  and  during 
the  conversation  took  the  opportunity  to  say,  that  the 
President,  the  government,  and  the  citizens  generally  of 
our  country  had  felt  and  expressed  a  deep  sense  of  the 
Sultan's  great  kindness  towards  the  officers  and  crew  of 
the  Peacock.  And  he  had  hoped  that  he  should  have  been 
able  to  convey  a  more  particular  expression  of  that  feel- 
ing, than  it  was  now  in  his  power  to  give.  He  had  been 
under  the  necessity  of  leaving  the  United  States  before 
the  government  had  definitely  acted  on  the  subject  which 
had  awakened  their  additional  interest  towards  his  High- 
ness, and  he  hoped,  ere  long,  that  his  Highness  would 
again  hear  from  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  a 
manner  yet  more  acceptable  than  his  present  statement 
could  be. 

The  Prince  replied,  that  it  was  but  very  little  that  they 
had  done  for  the  Peacock,  and  that  so  trifling  a  circum- 
stance could  hardly  require  any  acknowledgment. 

Here  was  deep  sarcasm,  or  else  great  magnanimity. 
Prithee,  Americans,  which  was  it  ?  No  one  who  saw  the 
ingenuous  countenance  of  the  Prince,  or  his  principal  ad- 
viser, who  was  the  speaker  on  this  occasion,  and  is  the 
favorite  cousin  of  the  Prince,  could  have  read  any  satire 
in  their  expression,  and  I  am  sure  there  was  none  in  their 
feelings. 

Coffee,  sweetened  with  crystallized  sugar-candy,  was 
served  by  one  of  his  Highness's  oldest  eunuchs,  a  slave 
long  attached  to  the  family  of  his  young  Highness's  father, 
as  Captain  C.  said  to  me  as  he  gave  me  the  names  of  the 
different  persons  present.  After  this,  lemonade,  made 
from  sweet  lemons,  was  passed.  The  coffee  was  served 
in  small  cups,  resting  in  corresponding  silver  ones.  The 
lemonade  was  passed  in  common  glasses. 

We  sat  with  the  young  Prince  and  his  relatives,  and 
others  of  his  council,  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  His 
cousin,  a  young  Arabian  of  thirty-two  or  three  years  of 
age,  was  the  principal  speaker,  and  has  a  sprightly  intel- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  169 

lect.  A  lad,  son  of  this  last,  was  also  present,  whose  at- 
tention to  all  that  was  said  was  particularly  marked  for 
one  so  young,  as  he  sat  with  his  hand  upon  the  hilt  of 
his  Damascus  blade,  almost  as  long  as  himself.  Captain 
Calfaun's  brother  also  was  present,  the  two  brothers  strik- 
ingly resembling  each  other,  and  their  features  indicating 
considerable  cleverness.  The  young  Sultan  has  a  round 
face,  with  full,  large  eyes,  greatly  striking  in  this  burning 
region,  where  the  sun,  darting  forth  his  scorching  rays, 
forbids  the  Arab  ever  to  open  his  eye  with  the  expanding 
frankness  of  the  European.  And  this  fine  feature,  with 
his  rotund  face,  corresponded  with  the  idea  I  had  con- 
ceived of  a  Persian,  rather  than  one  of  the  princes  of  Ara- 
by.  His  wife  is  said  to  be  a  Persian  Princess  ;  and  an 
allusion  to  his  marriage,  which  took  place  at  the  time  the 
Peacock  was  last  here,  originated  a  conversation,  which 
seemed  to  please  the  whole  party. 

I  trust  it  will  not  be  deemed  out  of  place,  when  allud- 
ing to  another  incident,  occurring  a  moment  before  our 
leave-taking  of  the  Prince.  It  was  gratuitous  on  the  part 
of  Commodore  Read,  and  unexpected  on  the  part  of  my- 
self; and,  in  connection  with  the  succeeding  papers,  it 
becomes  a  necessary  part  of  a  correct  description  of  our 
presentation.  The  Commodore  had  alluded  to  the  Presi- 
dent's Message,  and  would  give  Captain  Calfaun  the  docu- 
ment to  be  interpreted  to  his  Highness,  so  far  as  it  related 
to  a  mention  made  of  the  generous  action  of  the  Sultan 
towards  the  Peacock.  And  you  will  please  further  say  to 
his  Highness,  added  Commodore  Read  to  the  cousin  of 
the  Prince,  that  a  young  gentleman  of  the  Columbia,  re- 
collecting that  the  Arabians  are  a  poetic  people,  has  pen- 
ned some  lines,  evincing  the  general  feeling  of  interest 
cherished  at  home,  in  connection  with  the  kindness  of  his 
Highness,  the  young  Sultan's  father,  towards  the  officers 
and  crew  of  the  Peacock.  He  would  be  happy  to  present 
them  to  the  Prince,  that  they  may,  through  him,  be  con- 
veyed to  his  Highness's  father.  The  Commodore  bowed 
to  myself  as  the  writer  of  the  lines  ;  and  when  Captain 
Calfaun  had  interpreted  the  Commodore,  the  Prince,  with 
a  courteous  acknowledgment,  said  that  he  would  be 
most  happy  to  receive  the  communication,  and  would 

15 


170          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

transmit  it,  as  desired.  I  did  not,  at  the  moment,  possess 
the  lines  which  had  been  alluded  to,  and  replied  that  they 
should  be  handed  to  Captain  Calfaun  at  some  other  time, 
before  we  sailed. 

It  was  the  object  of  the  presentation,  to  produce  as 
favorable  an  impression  upon  the  Prince  and  his  family 
as  practicable,  in  view  of  the  interests  of  our  commerce, 
and  of  humanity.  If,  therefore,  the  following  papers, 
which  were  sent  to  the  young  Sultan,  as  the  consequence 
of  this  allusion  of  the  Commodore,  shall  in  any  degree 
contribute  to  the  good- will  and  kindly  feelings  existing 
between  his  Highness  the  Sultan  of  Muscat  and  our  own 
citizens,  I  shall  be  happy  that  they  were  penned,  and  for- 
warded as  further  described. 

My  own  communications  were  enclosed  in  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  Commodore  Read : 

To  His  HIGHNESS  SYED  SYEED  BIN  SOULTAN  : 

I  had  anticipated,  on  my  arrival  at  Muscat,  the  pleas- 
ure of  being  able,  in  person,  to  tender  to  your  Highness 
the  assurances  of  the  sincere  good  wishes,  which  the 
President  of  the  United  States  continues  to  cherish  for 
the  happiness  and  prolonged  prosperity  of  your  Highness. 
And  while  transmitting  the  accompanying  papers,  penned 
by  my  Chaplain,  as  evidence  of  the  general  kind  feeling 
which  the  generous  course  of  your  Highness  towards 
the  Peacock  has  created  in  the  United  States,  I  fully  be- 
lieve, although  I  have  not  been  instructed  by  my  Gov- 
ernment thus  to  say,  that  your  Highness,  ere  long,  will 
again  hear  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  a 
manner  more  accordant  with  the  generosity  and  great 
merits  of  your  Highness. 

I  am,  with  high  considerations  of  respect, 

Your  Highness's  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  C.  READ, 

Commanding  the  U.  S.  Naval  Force  in  the  Indian  Seas. 
Harbor  of  Muscat,  October  20th,  1838. 

The  following  are  the  two  papers,  alluded  to  in  the 
preceding  letter  of  Commodore  Read : 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          171 


His  HIGHNESS  THE  SULTAN  OF  MUSCAT 

Will  excuse  the  freedom  of  one  who  admires  his  magnani- 
mous and  elevated  character,  for  the  liberty  which  is  taken 
in  transmitting  to  his  Highness  the  enclosed  lines.  They 
are  sent  as  evidence  of  the  cordial  sentiment  of  admira- 
tion which  affects  the  writer's  own  bosom  not  only,  but 
also  of  all  those  who  have  heard  of  the  generous  action  of 
his  Highness  towards  the  officers  and  crew  of  one  of  the 
United  States  ships,  when  she  was  near  being  stranded 
on  the  Arabian  coast. 

Will  his  Highness  receive  the  sincere  wishes  of  the 
writer,  that  the  years  of  his  Highness  may  still  be  long 
and  happy,  as  they  have  been  beneficent  and  glorious. 

FITCH  W.  TAYLOR, 
Chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia. 
Harbor  of  Muscat,  October  18th,  1838. 

The  following  are  the  lines  alluded  to  in  the  preceding 
note: 

TO  HIS  HIGHNESS  SYED  SYEED  BIN  SOULTAN,  SULTAN  OF  MUSCAT. 

SULTAN  OF  MUSCAT  !  thy  proud  story 

Lives  where  the  day-beam  latest  falls, 
And  thy  name  famed  in  Eastern  glory, 

Is  heard  within  the  Western  halls ; 
And  far  o'er  seas  to  Oman's  waters 

A  nation's  thanks  we  bear  to  thee, 
And  long  their  thousand  sons  and  daughters 

Will  bless  the  Prince  of  Araby. 

Not  purest  pearls  from  Bahrien's  ocean, 

Not  diamond  gems  from  eastern  mines, 
Not  hoarded  gold  of  proudest  Imam 

Could  win  the  hearts  from  western  climes ; 
But  courteous  deeds  and  princely  dealing 

Their  stranded  sons  received  from  thee, 
Hath  met  a  nation's  grateful  feeling, 

Who  laud  the  Prince  of  Araby. 

For  such  as  thee,  in  martial  strains, 

The  notes  of  clarion  should  be  swelling, 

And  minstrel  harps  and  sybil-lines 

Thy  deeds  in  glorious  verse  be  telling ; 


172  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLfl. 

And  storied  rolls  and  fadeless  pages 
Trace  bright  thy  name  and  chivalry, 

And  chronicle  for  deathless  ages 
The  generous  Prince  of  Araby. 

And  bright  thy  name,  with  glory  streaming, 

Shall  light  the  page  of  future  story, 
And  fairer  than  thy  fellows  gleaming 

Shall  fix  the  gaze  of  young  and  hoary ; 
And  though,  like  meteor-lights  declining, 

The  sheen  of  other  names  may  die ; 
Thy  deeds  shall  be  for  ever  shining, 

Thou  glorious  Prince  of  Araby. 

O  Araby,  of  olden  story, 

Though  fairy-spells  live  in  thy  name, 
Deserts,  green,  sheiks,  and  all  hath  glory, 

As  in  our  youth  we  learned  thy  fame  ;  x 

Yet  mountain-gems,  and  myrrh,  and  balms, 

And  tales  of  proud  antiquity, 
We  lose  them  all,  while  verse  proclaims 

The  proudest  Prince  of  Araby. 

Then  peace  attend  thee  in  thy  glory 

Of  Eastern  climes  and  golden  treasure, 
And  years  of  life  gleam  long  before  thee, 

To  fill  the  chalice  of  thy  pleasure ; 
And  where  the  sun  goes  late  to  rest, 

Far  o'er  the  deep  and  wide  blue-sea, 
There  SYEED  BIN  SOULTAN  shall  be  blest, 

As  noblest  Prince  of  Araby. 

The  preceding  papers,  in  a  sealed  envelope,  to  his 
Highness  Syed  Syeed  Bin  Soultan ;  together  with  their 
duplicates  unsealed,  were  sent,  through  Captain  Calfaun, 
with  the  following  accompanying  letter,  to  the  young 
Prince,  on  whom  we  had  called : 


To  His  HIGHNESS  THE  IMAM  OF  MUSCAT. 

We  anticipated  the  pleasure  of  paying  our  respects  to 
his  Highness,  your  illustrious  father,  on  our  arrival  at 
Muscat.  But  in  his  absence,  we  are  happy  that  we  shall 
have  the  privilege  of  conveying  to  him,  though  your 
Highness,  the  grateful  considerations  which  every  Ameri- 
can citizen,  as  well  as  the  Government  of  the  United 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  173 

States,  must  continue  to  feel  towards  your  illustrious  fa- 
ther and  his  distinguished  family,  for  the  noble  manner 
with  which  he  treated  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  U.  S. 
ship  Peacock,  when  she  was  near  being  lost  at  Mazeira. 

Will  your  Highness,  therefore,  excuse  the  freedom  of 
the  request,  that  the  accompanying  papers,  addressed  to 
his  Highness,  your  father,  may  be  forwarded  to  him  as 
opportunity  may  offer  ?  A  duplicate  of  the  same  is  sent 
to  your  Highness,  alike  to  evince  the  high  respect  and 
grateful  consideration  which  the  writer  and  his  country- 
men feel  towards  the  whole  family  of  your  distinguished 
father. 

FITCH  W.  TAYLOR, 
Chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia. 

Harbor  of  Muscat,  October  19th,  1838. 

But  to  return  to  our  sitting  with  the  Imam  and  his  suite, 
from  which  we  digressed  for  the  insertion  of  the  prece- 
ding papers.  We  soon  after  left  the  palace  ;  Commodore 
Read  having  given  the  Prince  an  invitation  to  visit  the 
Columbia,  which  was  accepted.  On  our  leaving  the  Imam, 
it  was  with  the  usual  ceremony  of  shaking  hands  in  our 
own  style,  with  cordial  good  feelings,  apparently  by  both 
parties  ;  and  while  Captain  Calfaun  accompanied  the  Com- 
modore and  other  of  the  officers  to  look  at  the  Sultan's 
horses,  I  returned  to  the  edge  of  the  bay  to  meet  the  two 
boats,  seen  pulling  from  our  frigate,  with  their  flags  at  the 
stern,  declaring  that  they  were  bearing  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  the  shore,  for  his  burial.  As  I  reached  the  landing 
place,  a  dark  Arab  approached  me,  taking  from  the  folds 
of  his  turban  the  following  note  ; 

"  SIR,— 

"  The  bearer  of  this  note  will  conduct  you  to  the  bury- 
ing ground.  Also,  some  of  his  Highnesses  guards  will 
attend  you. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

BIN  CALFAUN.'" 


The  boats  soon  reached  the  shore,  and  the  body  of  the 
poor  sailor  was  borne  by  his  messmates,  accompanied  by 
the  officers  of  the  boats  and  the  assistant  surgeon,  and  a 

15* 


174          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

crowd  of  Arabs  and  Africans,  whose  curiosity  collected 
them  to  witness  the  ceremony  of  an  American  burial. 
We  proceeded  through  the  narrow  and  winding  streets, 
until  we  passed  out  of  the  southmost  gate  of  the  inwalled 
city ;  and  after  proceeding  through  the  range  of  bamboo 
houses  clustered  together  without  the  walls,  we  soon 
reached  the  spot  where  the  grave  had  already  been  dug. 
The  crowd,  from  their  loud  and  noisy  chattering,  became 
silent  as  our  party  all  uncovered,  and  the  ceremony  of 
interment  was  said  above  the  body  of  the  departed  sailor. 
And  while  they  were  now  filling  the  grave,  a  collection 
of  masked  women  at  a  bamboo  tent  at  some  distance  on 
the  steep  aslant  above  us,  commenced  their  wail  for  the 
dead.  We  left  this  worthy  tar  to  sleep  in  his  foreign 
grave,  beneath  the  pouring  rays  of  an  Arabian  sun.  His 
death  was  sudden,  and  occasioned  by  the  intense  heat  of 
the  sun,  on  the  afternoon  of  our  mooring  our  ship.  An 
active  seaman  and  petty  officer,  he  had  exerted  himself 
on  the  yard  while  furling  sails,  and  with  his  hat  off,  suf- 
fered the  sun  to  beat  upon  his  uncovered  head.  He  fell 
soon  after  his  reaching  the  deck,  and  died  in  the  course 
of  an  hour.  One  or  two  others  were  affected,  but  have 
recovered  so  far  as  to  be  out  of  danger. 

The  sides  of  the  high  rocks  which  surround,  on  three 
sides,  the  narrow  cove  on  which  the  city  of  Muscat  is 
situated,  are  like  so  many  mirrors,  converging  the  sun's 
rays  to  a  focus,  and  thus  concentrating  the  heat  upon  a 
vessel  which  lies  within  the  harbor.  At  the  moment  of 
our  mooring  ship  and  furling  sails,  at  about  four  o'clock 
P.  M.,  the  sun's  rays,  from  this  circumstance,  were  in- 
tolerable, where  one  was  exposed  to  them.  And  though 
I  made  no  particular  note  of  the  degree  of  heat  we  ex- 
perienced while  at  Muscat,  I  am  told  the  thermometer  rose 
to  110°  in  the  sun,  while  kept  on  the  gun-deck,  and  in  my 
own  room  it  generally  ranged,  during  the  day,  at  86°. 
The  nights  were  comfortable,  and  the  officers  generally 
rested  well.  But  during  the  day,  the  perspiration  was 
streaming  from  every  pore ;  and  in  no  case  have  I  ever 
perspired  so  freely,  for  a  succession  of  days,  as  at 
Muscat. 

On  the  day  succeeding  our  presentation  to  the  young 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          175 

Sultan,  who  is  about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  I  went 
on  shore  to  visit  Captain  Calfaun,  and  spent  some  time 
with  him  in  his  upper  rooms. 

Captain  Calfaun  has  been  in  the  navy  of  his  Highness, 
the  Sultan  of  Muscat,  and  is  said  generally  to  have  com- 
manded the  vessel  in  which  the  Sultan  himself  has  sailed, 
when  visiting  different  parts  of  his  possessions.  He 
seems  to  be  a  good  Mussulman,  and  is  particular  in  con- 
forming to  the  ceremonious  observances  of  his  religion. 
We  had  a  long  conversation  on  the  peculiarities  of  the 
Mohammedan  and  the  Christian  systems ;  and  it  seemed 
his  wish  rather  to  leave  with  me  the  impression,  that  the 
followers  of  Mohammed  venerated  the  character  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  profoundly  as  ourselves.  And  yet,  while  he 
affirmed  that  they  considered  Jesus  Christ  to  have  had, 
in  his  generation,  no  earthly  father,  but  was  born  of  Mary 
by  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  the  Almighty,  and  that 
Mohammed  was  born  of  earthly  parents ;  it  was  evident, 
at  the  same  time,  that  Captain  Calfaun  did  not  feel  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  a  greater  prophet  than  Mohammed,  or 
was  other  than  a  prophet,  like  Moses,  and  others  after 
Moses,  and  Mohammed  after  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  came, 
at  the  time  he  did,  to  save  certain  tribes  of  people, 
and  was  persecuted.  Mohammed  also  was  persecuted 
for  the  first  few  years  of  his  mission,  but  was  finally  suc- 
cessful in  establishing  his  purpose,  and  was  the  latest  and 
the  last  prophet  whom  God  had  sent  or  would  send  to  the 
earth  for  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

His  peculiar  sect,  which  prevails  in  Oman,  differs  in 
some  things  from  the  generality  of  Mussulmans,  particu- 
larly in  connection  with  their  idea  as  to  a  metaphysical 
speculation  about  the  visible  appearance  of  God.  They 
affirm  that  God,  being  a  spirit,  can  never  be  seen,  while 
others  suppose  that  he  will  be  visible  to  the  inhabitants  of 
another  world.  Their  whole  system,  however,  represent- 
ing the  future  state  as  a  physical  existence,  would,  of 
necessity,  introduce  a  thousand  difficulties,  were  they  at 
all  given  to  philosophical  reasonings.  But  it  is  my  pur- 
pose elsewhere  to  devote  a  paragraph  to  the  subject  of 
the  religion  of  the  Arabs,  and,  therefore,  I  waive  it 
here. 


176          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

In  speaking  of  the  toleration  which  his  Highness  the 
Sultan  cherishes  towards  his  subjects  of  different  creeds, 
Captain  C.  assured  me,  in  reply  to  a  question  on  the  sub- 
ject, that  there  would  be  no  opposition  made  to  the  loca- 
tion of  an  American  missionary  at  Muscat. 

But,  I  continued,  should  such  a  missionary  succeed  in 
making  a  Mohammedan  a  Christian,  in  what  manner 
would  the  Arabian  afterwards  be  treated  by  his  tribe  and 
countrymen  ? 

"  That  would  be  impossible,"  Captain  C.  replied.  "  A 
missionary  could  not  make  a  Mohammedan  a  Christian." 

But,  I  continued,  with  a  smile,  suppose  the  missionary 
did  succeed — suppose  by  argument  and  conclusive  reason- 
ing with  Captain  Calfaun,  he  should  make  Captain  C. 
renounce  his  present  creed  and  join  the  Christians,  how 
then  would  his  Highness  treat  Captain  Calfaun  ? 

"  His  Highness,  or  the  true  Imam,  would  kill  him,"  con- 
tinued Captain  C. 

But  would  not  that  be  rather  cruel,  and  uncharitable  ? 
I  asked. 

"  But  it  would  be  just,"  continued  Captain  C.,  "  for  I 
should  deserve  it" 

Here  then  is  seen  the  amount  of  toleration  an  Ameri- 
can missionary  would  receive  at  Muscat;  or  rather,  it 
presents  to  him  the  probabilities  of  his  success,  and  the 
consequences  of  such  success  to  the  converted  Mussulman. 
Were  there  an  American  population  at  Muscat  sufficient 
to  render  it  desirable  to  have  Christian  services  and  the 
residence  of  a  Christian  minister,  his  Highness  would  im- 
pose no  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  a  church  for 
themselves,  any  more  than  he  opposes  the  existence  of  a 
Banyan  temple,  which  is  tolerated  within  the  city  walls, 
with  all  their  Banyan  peculiarities,  glaringly  opposed  to 
the  professed  dislike  of  the  Mohammedans  to  all  idol- wor- 
ship. But  should  a  convert  from  among  the  Arabs  be 
made  to  the  Christian  religion,  an  immediate  opposition 
would  be  raised ;  and  the  Sultan,  who  is  generally  at  the 
head  of  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  civic  power,  would  be 
obliged  to  interfere ;  and  in  case  the  two  powers,  civic 
and  spiritual,  were  not  invested  in  the  same  individual, 
the  Imam,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  spiritual  power, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  177 

would  act,  without  appeal,  in  his  opposition  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Christian  system. 

It  is  not  always  the  case  that  the  Imamship  is  united 
with  the  chief  civic  power.  It  is  required,  in  the  case 
where  they  are  invested  in  the  same  individual,  that  the 
Prince  shall  possess  sufficient  theological  knowledge  to 
enable  him  to  deliver  a  discourse  before  the  doctors  or 
priests,  and  the  assembled  shieks  of  the  different  tribes, 
who  have  elected  or  made  the  reigning  power.  If,  how- 
ever, the  Prince  decline,  either  from  incompetency  or 
other  reasons,  thus  to  discourse  before  the  assembled 
chiefs,  he  does  not  receive,  in  fact,  the  title  of  Imam, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  generally  accorded  to  him, 
in  courtesy.  This  is  the  state  of  things  in  the  case  of  his 
Highness,  the  present  Sultan  of  Muscat.  He  is  called 
Imam  by  courtesy,  though  he  has  never  gone  through  the 
ceremonies,  and  assumed  the  spiritual  obligation,  which 
the  title  supposes. 

Early  on  a  succeeding  morning  I  went  to  take  a  view 
of  his  Highness's  horses,  tethered  near  the  beach,  at  the 
eastern  side  of  the  city.  We  passed  along  the  narrow 
bazaar,  principally  occupied  hy  the  Banyans ;  at  the  end 
of  which  is  their  temple,  with  sketches  of  wretchedly 
drawn  houses  and  ships  covering  its  walls.  Both  the  Ban- 
yans and  the  Arabs  seem  entirely  ignorant  of  perspective. 
Their  ships  and  houses  are  fac-similes  of  the  first  essays 
of  the  nursery,  in  drawing  a  man  or  a  mouse,  or  a  horse 
or  a  house.  The  Sultan's  stables  are  arranged  within  an 
inwalled  square  of  considerable  size,  with  a  roof  extend- 
ing quite  around  three  sides  of  the  area-wall,  sufficiently 
wide  to  protect  the  animals  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  A 
fixed  rope,  attached  by  a  noose  over  the  fetlock-joint  of 
the  hind  legs  of  the  horses,  preserved  them  in  their  place, 
and  prevented  them  from  doing  mischief  either  to  them- 
selves or  others.  We  saw  a  few  tolerably  fine  horses, 
among  the  forty  or  fifty  animals  in  this  collection.  But 
most  of  them,  disconnected  with  their  Arab  associations, 
would  not  have  commanded  fifty  dollars  a  piece,  for  a 
dray  in  New-York.  There  was  one  beautiful  mare  with 
sleek  limbs,  strikingly  in  contrast  with  the  stiff  joints  and 
clumsy  legs  of  most  of  the  horses  we  saw.  Captain  Cal- 


178  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

faun  said,  that  quite  a  number  of  his  Highnesses  best  horses 
had  been  sent  from  Muscat,  a  few  days  before  we  arrived. 
As  we  returned  through  the  bazaar,  I  purchased  some 
Persian  rugs,  which  were  very  pretty,  and  must  be  very 
durable,  judging  from  their  material  and  compactness. 
Others  were  afterwards  purchased,  by  several  officers  of 
the  ship.  These  rugs  are  brought  in  boats  from  up  the 
Persian  Gulf,  to  Muscat,  and  sold  at  auction  here.  They 
are  afterwards,  a  considerable  supply  of  them,  sent  to 
Bombay. 

THE  SULTAN'S  VISIT  TO  THE  COLUMBIA. 

The  young  Sultan,  having  accepted  the  invitation  of 
Commodore  Read  to  visit  the  Columbia,  came  on  board 
with  his  suit  in  the  afternoon,  at  the  hour  which  had  been 
fixed  upon.  He  was  attended  by  his  principal  minister, 
who  is  a  cousin  and  a  young  Arab  Prince  of  decided  cha- 
racter ;  also  a  brother  of  the  young  Sultan  about  fourteen 
years  of  age,  a  bright  lad  ;  and  the  commander  of  the 
Sultan's  guards,  who  is  said  to  have  fought  some  hard 
battles ;  together  with  Captain  Calfaun,  Captain  C.'s  brother, 
and  several  others  of  the  Prince's  officers  and  retainers. 

The  gig  and  cutter  left  the  frigate  at  four  o'clock  to 
bear  the  young  Prince  and  his  suit  to  the  ship.  Our  crew 
were  all  in  their  clean  dresses,  and  the  officers  in  their 
cocked  hats  and  swords,  ready  to  receive  this  young 
Arab.  The  yards  were  manned,  and  as  the  Prince  came 
over  the  side  of  the  frigate,  the  music  beat  the  roll,  while 
the  marines,  in  full-dress,  presented  arms  as  the  Prince 
descended  to  the  deck.  The  music  repeated  the  roll  suc- 
cessively as  his  Highness's  chief  counsellor  and  the  Prince's 
young  brother  came  over  the  frigate's  side.  They  were 
all  received  by  the  Commodore  and  First  Lieutenant  in 
advance  of  the  other  officers,  who  then,  together,  walked 
to  the  quarter-deck.  The  beat  to  quarters  at  once  dis- 
persed officers  and  men  to  their  several  places  ;  when  the 
Prince,  through  his  interpreter,  Captain  Calfaun,  was  in- 
formed that  the  frigate  was  now  in  the  attitude  assumed 
when  about  to  engage  an  enemy ; — Would  he  walk 
through  the  ship  and  examine  her  ? 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  whole  party  passed  fore  and  aft  the  three  decks, 
and  having  sufficiently  gratified  their  curiosity,  entered 
with  the  Commodore  into  his  cabin ;  to  which  all  the  offi- 
cers were  then  invited.  The  Commodore,  with  his  usual 
taste,  had  arranged  his  table  with  fruits,  sweetmeats,  sher- 
bet, lemonade,  &c.,  of  which  they  partook ;  after  which 
coffee  was  served. 

The  young  Prince,  seated  on  the  right  of  the  Commo- 
dore, said  but  little  himself.  His  minister  was  the  chief 
speaker  and  the  primum  mobile  of  the  scene,  here  as  at 
the  presentation  of  the  Commodore  at  the  Sultan's  divan. 
He  is  decidedly  the  most  intellectual  Arab  I  have  yet  seen, 
is  about  thirty-five  years  of  age,  with  a  sprightly  flow  of 
words  and  play  of  the  muscles  of  his  face ;  while  his 
speaking  eyes  give  forth  their  expressions,  as  indices  of  his 
emotions.  The  Prince's  young  brother  sat  next  below 
the  minister  on  the  Commodore's  left,  and  opposite  to  my- 
self. There  was  no  wine  on  the  table,  it  being  contrary 
to  the  religion  of  the  Mohammedans  to  partake  of  it,  or  of 
any  other  spirituous  liquor,  until  they  reach  the  highest 
heaven  of  their  paradise.  The  Commodore,  however, 
with  a  smile  that  was  understood,  said  he  would  take  wine 
with  the  Prince  if  he  would  allow  him.  The  compliment, 
as  meant,  was  interpreted  to  the  Prince,  who  offered  the 
precepts  of  his  religion  as  his  apology  for  declining.  But 
the  gentleman  beside  me,  said  one  of  the  officers,  drinks 
wine,  sir.  The  Lieutenant  alluded  to  Captain  Calfaun's 
brother,  who  had  been  in  France,  and  had  gained  some 
knowledge  of  the  French  language.  "  No,  sir,"  added  the 
courtier,  "  I  do  not  drink  wine  in  the  present  company." 

While  Mohammed,  the  young  brother  of  the  Prince, 
was  sipping  his  coffee,  I  indicated  that  I  would  drink  coffee 
with  him,  as  there  was  no  wine  on  the  table.  The  coffee 
seemed  particularly  agreeable  to  his  taste,  but  the  Com- 
modore's cups,  so  large  in  comparison  with  theirs,  were 
rather  unmanageable  in  his  hands,  and  his  own  awkward- 
ness so  amused  himself,  as  to  betray  him  into  an  audible 
laugh.  This  young  brother  of  the  Prince  was  now  com- 
plimented for  his  fine  head  and  teeth,  and  general  appear- 
ance, all  of  which  was  merited  by  the  apparently  clever 
lad  ;  and  his  teeth  were  but  counterparts  of  his  brother's, 


180  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

and  others  of  his  family.  They  are  strikingly  white,  clear, 
and  preserved  thus  by  the  use  of  a  particular  root,  which 
serves  them  as  a  brush. 

"  His  Highness,"  said  Captain  Calfaun,  addressing  my- 
self, "  has  seen  you  twice,  and  in  both  instances  in  black. 
He  desires  to  know  the  cause  of  your  wearing  it  ?"  This 
curiosity  seemed  to  be  awakened  by  the  contrast  of  my 
dress  with  others  of  the  officers. 

I  replied  that  it  was  the  uniform  dress  of  the  Chaplain 
of  the  ship. 

Captain  Calfaun,  apparently  not  comprehending  the 
term  chaplain,  I  added,  that  it  was  the  dress  of  the  reli- 
gious officer  on  board  the  ship,  corresponding,  in  part, 
with  the  religious  office  of  the  Imam  on  shore  among 
themselves.  The  Catholics,  of  whom  they  had  known 
more  than  of  the  Protestants,  would  call  me  the  priest,  for 
which  title  we  use  the  term  minister  or  clergyman,  and 
on  board  of  ship,  chaplain. 

His  Highness  replied,  that  he  had  supposed  I  wore 
black  as  mourning  for  the  loss  of  some  friend.  And  could 
he  have  read  the  heart  at  the  moment  of  his  mentioning 
it,  he  might  have  seen  it  wreathed  in  weeds,  as  it  even 
then  bled  at  the  recurrence  of  the  thought  that  I  was,  in- 
deed, in  mourning  for  one  who  sleeps  to  wake  no  more, 
until  the  hour  that  shall  wake  us  all  at  the  last  day. 

The  party  rose  and  retired  to  the  private  cabin  of  the 
Commodore.  The  cousin  of  the  young  Sultan  and  his 
principal  counsellor,  now  continued  the  conversation,  in- 
quiring as  to  the  age  of  the  Columbia.  He  was  told  that 
this  was  her  first  cruise. 

"  And  the  John  Adams,  was  she  also  new  V 

"  She  had  lately  been  repaired,  which  was  almost  the 
same  as  being  newly  built  for  the  cruise,  but  had  long 
been  in  the  service." 

His  Highness  continued,  that  they  were  greatly  pleased 
with  their  visit  to  the  Columbia — admired  the  ship — and 
was  sure  that  his  Highness  his  father  would  greatly  re- 
gret that  he  was  not  at  Muscat  himself  to  receive  us,  and 
would  have  been  particularly  pleased  with  the  Columbia's 
visit,  as  she  was  the  first  large  frigate  that  had  ever  visit- 
ed the  waters  of  Muscat. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          181 

The  Commodore  re-assured  his  Highness  of  the  kind 
feelings  of  the  President  and  people  of  the  United  States ; 
and  fully  believed  that  they  would  manifest  it  in  their 
future  intercourse  in  his  Highness's  ports. 

His  Highness  replied,  that  Americans  would  always 
be  welcomed,  and  that  every  thing  would  be  done  that 
was  possible  for  their  happiness  and  convenience. 

But,  said  the  Commodore,  our  frequent  visits  to  your 
ports  would  cause  you  a  considerable  expense,  if  you 
should  insist,  in  all  instances,  as  you  have  done  in  this, 
that  our  ship  shall  be  supplied  gratuitously. 

"  We  are  friends"  said  his  Highness  with  emphasis, 
"  now,  and  are  happy  that  it  is  so.  And  we  hope  that  it 
will  continue  to  be  so  from  father  to  son,  and  from  sons9 
sons,  down  to  the  latest  time  of  our  family,  and — FOR  EVER," 
he  added,  as  he  seemed  a- moment  to  hesitate  for  the  last 
word,  in  the  evident  increase  of  his  feelings,  in  the  gen- 
erous glow  of  the  noble  sentiment. 

How  great  a  pity,  said  the  Commodore,  addressing 
myself,  that  we  do  not  understand  all  languages  !  This 
sentiment  of  the  Commodore  was  an  expression  of  regret 
that  he  could  not  tell  this  Prince,  as  forcibly  as  he  would 
wish,  the  sincerity  of  the  good  feeling  of  the  American 
people,  in  their  high  appreciation  of  the  character  of  the 
Sultan  of  Muscat. 

Captain  Calfaun  was  desired,  however,  to  say,  in  reply, 
which  was  the  last  sentence  interpreted  to  his  Highness 
in  this  talk,  having  particular  reference  to  the  feelings  of 
the  two  governments  towards  each  other,  that  "  when  we 
returned  to  America,  the  President  and  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  would  be  told  in  a  language  which  they 
would  entirely  understand  and  feel,  how  true  and  how 
generous  is  the  friendship  of  the  Sultan  of  Muscat  towards 
the  people  of  the  United  States." 

The  Commodore  now  ordered  the  two  boats  to  be 
manned,  as  the  Prince  and  his  suit  were  about  to  take 
leave  of  the  ship.  The  awnings  had  been  furled  while 
we  were  in  the  cabin,  having  been  spread  when  the 
Prince  and  his  party  came  on  board.  The  yards  were 
ready  to  be  re-manned.  The  young  Sultan  regained  the 
deck,  and  as  he  left  the  ship,  the  music  and  the  presenting 

16 


182  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

arms  of  the  guard  complimented  him  as  he  passed  over 
the  side  of  the  frigate  to  the  boat.  So  soon  as  the  boats 
had  pulled  to  a  suitable  distance  from  the  ship,  their  crews 
rested  on  their  oars,  as  the  loud  note  of  the  first  gun  of  the 
frigate  loomed  over  the  still  waters  of  the  bay,  succeeded 
by  twenty  other  loud-mouthed  pieces,  in  compliment  to 
his  Highness,  to  be  reverberated  in  rolling  thunders  along 
the  high  defile  of  rock,  which  nearly  surrounds  the  har- 
bor. The  scene  was  a  fine  one ;  and  when  our  own 
pieces  had  ceased  their  voice  of  national  compliment,  the 
oars  of  the  two  boats  were  seen  again  to  dip,  in  regular 
stroke,  for  the  shore,  while  the  guns  of  the  returning  sa- 
lute from  one  of  his  Highnesses  vessels,  opened,  to  prolong 
and  to  return,  with  an  equal  number  of  guns,  our  fire. 

VISIT    TO    THE    CAMP    OF    THE    BEDOUIN    ARABS. 

I  went  late  on  shore,  in  the  evening,  with  a  design  to 
take  a  stroll  to  the  camp  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs,  the  Sul- 
tan's retainers,  who  are  quartered  in  their  tents  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  without  the  walls  of  the  city. 

I  called  at  Captain  Calfaun's ;  and  our  Consul,  who  was 
there,  taking  my  arm,  we  started  for  a  charming  evening's 
walk.  The  sun  is  scorching  during  the  day,  but  now  it 
had  gone  behind  the  high  cragged  peaks  which  stretch 
every  way  around  Muscat,  and  had  just  settled  beneath 
the  notched  outline  of  the  rocks,  even  before  I  had  left 
the  Columbia,  sleeping  at  this  pleasant  hour  on  the  bosom 
of  the  picturesque  cove.  We  passed  along  the  narrow 
streets,  leading  to  the  western  gate  of  the  city  ;  and  being 
assured  that  it  would  not  be  closed  until  our  return,  we 
passed  out  and  followed  on  to  the  encampment,  which  was 
located  in  a  ravine  between  two  high  defiles  of  rocks,  the 
only  kind  of  a  location  that  could  be  found  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Muscat. 

On  reaching  the  encampment,  we  perceived  that  some 
few  of  the  Bedouins  had  already  placed  their  mats  in  the 
open  ravine  for  their  night's  repose  beneath  the  bright  stars ; 
while  the  early  twilight,  however,  was  yet  streaming  over 
the  mountain  rocks,  and  clothed  the  scene  in  the  softness 
of  the  early  sunset-hour.  As  we  neared  the  Bedouin 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  183 

lodgment,  we  observed  the  polite  old  chief  a  short  distance 
from  his  tent,  in  the  oper  air,  at  his  sunset-worship,  with  his 
face  turned  towards  the  soft  west,  while  the  bright  cres- 
cent of  the  moon  was  mingling  her  silver  light  with  the 
early  twilight  of  the  hour,  to  light  up  the  whole  of  the 
camp.  Several  Bedouins  approached  to  welcome  us;  but 
as  we  perceived  that  the  old  chief  had  not  finished  his 
prayers,  and  some  others  of  the  camp  were  making  their 
three  inclinations  to  the  ground,  we  said  that  we  would 
pass  on  a  little  distance  further  and  stop  on  our  return. 

We  paused  at  one  of  the  numerous  wells  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, where  the  water  is  drawn  by  an  ox,  with  a  rope 
reeved  through  a  block,  which  hauls  up  a  goat-skin  of 
water,  as  the  ox  descends  an  inclined  plane,  reminding 
one  of  his  boyhood,  when  he  has  labored  to  drag  his  sled 
up  a  steep  hill  for  the  pleasure  and  ease  of  gliding  down 
again,  with  this  advantage  or  apology  for  the  boy,  that 
there  was  a  necessity  in  the  case  for  the  youngster  thus  to 
proceed,  if  he  would  gain  his  purpose ;  whereas,  in  the 
case  of  the  ox,  in  this  arrangement  for  drawing  water,  he 
would  find  his  convenience  much  improved,  with  proper 
machinery,  by  walking  over  a  level  surface,  rather  than 
wasting  himself  both  by  the  uncomfortable  gait  of  descend- 
ing, and  the  necessary  great  effort  of  reascending  the  in- 
clined plane. 

We  turned  off  to  the  back  of  the  encampment  to  find  the 
inwalled  area,  where  the  Banyans  feed  and  cherish  and 
pet  their  cows,  which,  it  is  said,  they  worship.  Their  creed 
at  least  embraces  the  idea  of  transmigration  of  souls  ;  and 
they  suppose  when  the  spirit  leaves  the  body,  it  enters  into 
one  of  these  or  other  animals.  A  thatched  roof  extends 
on  the  inside  around  the  wall  of  the  enclosed  area,  to  shel- 
ter these,  their  deities,  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  We 
entered  the  enclosure  without  any  obstruction,  as  the  gate- 
way was  open,  and  no  Banyan,  at  the  moment,  was  near. 
We  were  cautious  in  our  advance,  lest  some  rude  one  of 
their  godships  should  take  it  into  his  horned  head  to  sport 
with  us.  Soon  after,  however,  three  Banyans  came  into 
the  enclosure  as  we  approached  several  of  the  cherished 
cattle.  One  of  the  keepers,  manifesting  that  some  of  the 
animals  we  were  looking  at  were  mischievous,  I  indicated, 


184  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

by  placing  my  hand  upon  the  hilt  of  a  sword,  that  I  would 
prick  their  hides  for  them  if  they  approached  too  near ; 
at  which,  the  keeper's  astonishment  being  manifested  in  his 
countenance,  I  reassured  him  that  I  would  not  injure  his 
creatures,  nor  trifle  with  his  religion,  however  preposterous 
it  might  be ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  my  purpose, 
to  ascertain  how  great  was  the  reverence  they  cherished 
for  these  beasts. 

There  were  several  beautiful  creatures  among  a  larger 
number  of  most  miserable  and  apparently  half-starved  year- 
lings and  calves.  Their  horns  wrere  mostly  stained  with 
red  or  black,  in  imitation,  I  suppose,  of  their  tattooed  and 
yellow-skinned  worshippers,  who,  as  a  cast,  exhibit  some 
fine  specimens  of  manliness  in  their  persons ;  with  their 
peculiar  turban  arrayed  high  on  their  head,  like  a  bishop's 
cap  as  cut  on  chess-men,  with  a  small  solid  twist  in  front, 
which  might  emblem  forth  a  young  stump  of  a  horn  grow- 
ing from  the  brow.  I  marked  particularly  one  gentle 
creature,  a  brindle-colored  ox,  thick  and  short,  with  a 
white  freckled  face.  He  looked  like  a  favorite,  and  there 
was  gravity  and  kindness  in  his  countenance,  and  friend- 
ship in  his  manner,  and  a  white  frill  of  his  superabundant 
hide  extended  down  his  neck  and  breast  and  along  the 
belly,  and  wreathed  itself  in  graceful  folds  over  his  hind 
legs. 

I  was  told  by  Mr.  M.,  who  was  walking  with  me,  that 
the  Arabs  here  sometimes  impose  upon  their  Banyan  neigh- 
bors. If  they  have  an  indifferent  calf  or  cow,  and  would 
dispose  of  it  at  a  good  price,  they  take  the  animal  to  the 
house  of  a  Banyan,  whose  religion  forbids  him  to  kill  any 
living  creature,  and  whose  veneration  is  particularly  turned, 
with  tenderness,  towards  the  bos-genus.  With  a  knife 
drawn  they  assure  the  Banyan,  that  if  he  does  not  give 
them  the  price  demanded,  the  animal  shall  die.  It  is  an 
appeal  which  the  Banyan  finds  it  difficult  to  resist ;  and  the 
shiners  are  dealt  out,  and  the  rescued  animal  conveyed  to 
the  enclosure,  to  feed  upon  dates,  until  he  shall  become 
sufficiently  sleek  to  be  conveyed  to  their  sacred  land  of 
Hindoostan ;  which  is  their  home,  and  where  they  often 
return  themselves,  after  an  absence  of  ten,  twenty,  or 
thirty  years. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  185 

We  bid  the  Banyans  and  their  petted  animals  good-by, 
as  their  keepers  were  giving  them  their  evening  meal  of 
dates ;  and  after  a  few  moments,  reached  the  tent  of  the 
Bedouin  chief.  Two  or  three  of  the  Arabs  came  out  to 
welcome  us  before  we  reached  the  entrance,  and  the  old 
chief  rose  from  his  couch  and  placed  us  beside  him,  with  a 

fraceful  and  cordial  shake  of  the  hand.  I  had  no  sooner 
isplaced  my  hat  than  several  of  these  long-haired  Arabs 
were  around  me  in  their  beautiful  and  artless  simplicity, 
while  one  of  their  number  seized  a  fan  and  swept  it  before 
me,  bearing  by  me  the  grateful  currents  of  the  cooling  air. 
In  a  few  moments,  others  brought  a  dish  of  halwah,  a  spe- 
cies of  sweetmeats,  and  desired  me  to  partake  as  the  old 
chief  raised  it  for  me  to  smell  it ;  of  which  I  partook  with 
my  fingers,  having  removed  my  glove,  and  thus  we  ate  it 
together,  from  the  same  dish.  Two  other  Bedouins  with 
their  flowing  curls  approached  the  one  who  was  using  the 
fan,  and  with  considerable  earnestness  desired  to  relieve 
him.  But  the  first  had  secured  the  honor  of  thus  showing 
a  courteous  attention  to  a  guest,  and  insisted  upon  his  privi- 
lege of  continuing  to  perform  his  part  in  the  civilities  and 
simple  hospitality  of  the  artless  and  beautiful  Bedouins. 
He  was  a  beautiful  and  graceful  figure,  that  half-naked 
Bedouin,  as  he  stood  before  me,  and  swept  his  fan  while  I 
sat  with  the  chief.  I  would  I  could  ever  retain  such  a 
picture  in  the  imagination.  There  he  stood,  with  a  smiling 
countenance,  which  was  the  beautiful  smile  of  artless  na- 
ture— with  smooth  features,  thin  lip,  and  white  teeth,  and 
dark  amber  skin,  and  jet  hair  falling  in  profuse  ringlets, 
with  a  fillet  over  the  forehead  pressing  the  flowing  curls 
gently  back  and  over  his  uncovered  shoulders,  displaying 
his  slim  and  well-formed  person  the  whole  length  of  his 
chest.  And  he  not  only  smiled,  but  all  smiled ;  and  he 
was  not  only  doing  what  he  believed  to  be  most  agree- 
able to  the  guest,  but  all  were  ready  to  spring  on  any  errand 
for  the  same  purpose.  And  when  we  had  slightly  eaten 
of  the  halwah,  and  the  chief  called  for  coffee,  three  equally 
beautifully  curled  and  raven-headed  Arabs  shot  to  the  back 
of  the  tent,  vieing  with  each  other  to  see  which  should  first 
bring  forth  the  hot  pot  of  coffee,  with  its  accompanying 
little  cups.  In  an  instant  the  beverage  was  at  our  lips, 

16* 


186          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  we  sipped  two  cups  with  the  old  chief,  who  in  his  art- 
less grace  and  amiable  manners,  reminds  one  of  a  patri- 
arch, surrounded  by  his  hundred  grown  and  handsome 
children,  each  delighting  to  move  at  his  beck,  and  would 
be  greatly  ashamed  if  all  was  not  done  that  could  be  done 
to  render  pleased  and  happy  their  stranger-guest. 

The  Sultan  of  Muscat,  it  is  said,  at  a  short  notice  can 
call  to  his  service  eight  or  ten  thousand  of  these  Arabians 
of  the  interior  ;  and  on  any  march  through  his  possessions, 
their  numbers  would  be  continually  increasing.  Three  or 
four  hundred  of  these  Bedouins  are  continually  retained, 
at  the  expense  of  the  Sultan,  without  the  walls  of  the  city, 
to  which  they  have  ingress  and  egress  at  their  pleasure 
during  the  day.  And  you  see  them  during  the  hot  part 
of  the  day,  in  the  pride  of  their  own  free  and  bounding 
elasticity  of  disposition  and  person,  arrayed  along  the  nar- 
row and  shaded  bazaars  ;  and  with  their  flowing  and  full 
dishevelled  curls,  bearing  their  match-lock,  or  shield  and 
Damascus  blade,  or  spear  and  kinger,  mingling  with  the 
turban-headed  Arabs  of  the  city  and  Banyan  merchants ; 
and  exhibiting  an  acceptable  and  picturesque  contrast  with 
all  else  about  them. 

The  interior  of  Oman,  which  yields  allegiance  to  the 
Sultan  of  Muscat,  is  divided  into  different  tribes,  with  a  chief 
at  their  head.  And  in  each  jurisdiction  there  is  a  castle  or 
stronghold.  The  shiek,  or  chief,  administers  the  law  in 
his  own  tribe,  who  have  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  Sultan  in 
case  either  party  deems  itself  aggrieved  by  the  decision 
of  the  shiek.  The  chiefs  of  these  different  divisions  are 
appointed  by  the  Sultan,  and  hold  their  place  with  the  sim- 
ple condition  of  fealty,  to  be  manifested  by  the  supply  of 
men  as  soldiers  from  his  tribe,  according  to  the  Sultan's 
requisition.  It  is  the  old  feudal  system  of  Europe,  in  many 
particulars.  And  in  case  the  Sultan  should  abuse  his 
power,  the  different  chiefs,  like  the  old  barons,  can  and  have 
retired  within  their  strongholds,  and  brought  the  Prince  to 
their  terms.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  present  Sultan  to  pre- 
serve the  friendship  of  the  Bedouin  tribes  of  the  interior; 
and  he  is  said  to  treat  them  with  the  greatest  liberality, 
never  dismissing  any  that  call  upon  him  without  a  present 
or  some  mark  of  particular  kindness.  The  consequence 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  187 

is,  that  he  has  secured  their  affection  and  attached  devo- 
tion. 

We  parted  with  no  little  interest  with  the  aged  chief 
of  this  Bedouin  encampment,  and  his  young  and  dark- 
haired  attendants,  whose  glossy  ringlets  so  gracefully 
hung  in  long  curls  upon  their  necks  and  shoulders,  or  in 
some  other  instances  were  gathered  in  a  tie  behind,  with 
the  ends  hanging  loosely,  in  the  mode  of  the  Greek.  Their 
fine  features,  soft  smile,  and  incomparably  beautiful  heads 
of  hair,  curled  and  glossy,  and  daily  dressed  with  oil  of 
cocoa-nut,  together  with  their  beautifully  developed  mus- 
cles of  the  shoulders  and  arms,  rather  effeminate  than 
otherwise,  and  yet  not  unmanly,  presented  a  more  pic- 
turesque and  interesting  bust  than  has  met  our  eye  besides, 
and  is  more  in  keeping  with  nature  and  taste  than  the 
shaved  and  turban-headed  Arabs  of  Muscat. 

We  returned,  by  invitation,  to  Captain  Calfaun's,  to 
take  tea  with  him,  this  evening,  and  found  a  cup  of  the 
delicious  beverage  refreshing  indeed,  after  the  heat  of  the 
day  and  the  stroll  of  the  evening.  Captain  Calfaun's,  and 
one  or  two  others,  are  the  only  families  in  Muscat  who 
are  in  the  habit  of  serving  tea.  Captain  Calfaun  and 
some  of  his  guests  were  reclining  upon  Persian  rugs  and 
bolsters,  while  I  occupied  a  comfortable  couch.  After  tea 
we  were  shown  through  several  of  the  upper  apartments 
of  the  house,  besides  the  well-furnished  and  large  room 
in  which  tea  was  served.  One  or  two  of  these  rooms 
were  surrounded  with  lattice-work,  constructed  from  the 
split  bamboo,  which  is  so  graceful  and  light  a  thing  for 
ornamenting  the  upper  and  even  lower  apartments,  in 
warm  climates.  Two  rooms  which  we  entered,  one 
quite  on  the  top  of  the  house,  were  without  roofs ;  and 
the  bright  stars  were  looking  down  upon  us,  with  their 
sweet  smiles,  as  we  gazed  delighted  from  the  turreted 
chamber  up  to  the  blue  halls  above  us.  It  is  not  astonish- 
ing that  an  Arab  of  ancient  times  should  become  an  as- 
trologer, reader  and  worshipper  of  the  stars,  when  his 
home  is  so  constructed  as  to  catch  the  smiles*  of  the  heav- 
enly goddesses,  so  graciously  contemplating  their  worship- 
per, and  holding  their  night-vigils  above  his  sleeping- 
couch. 


188  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Captain  Calfaun  has  shown  himself  every  way  attentive 
to  the  officers  of  the  Columbia,  in  contributing  to  their 
pleasure  and  convenience,  and  left  with  them  a  feeling  of 
great  kindness  towards  himself  for  his  polite  attentions  to 
them.  And  as  this  gentleman  has  been  the  object  of 
frequent  mention  in  the  accounts  given  of  the  visits  of  our 
ships  to  the  port  of  Muscat,  his  character  may  naturally 
awaken  some  interest  with  those  who  may  peruse  these 
pages.  He  is  a  fine  specimen  of  an  Arabian  of  his  own 
tribe  and  sect.  A  perfect  gentleman  in  his  simple,  easy, 
and  unostentatious  manners ;  moving  with  ease  in  his 
graceful  costume,  and  doing  every  thing  with  a  fitness 
which  prevents  the  attention  from  being  arrested  by  any 
incongruity,  eccentricity,  or  personal  peculiarity.  And 
this,  whether  he  is  in  the  presence  of  his  Prince  and  other 
members  of  his  Highness's  family  and  his  own  people,  or 
on  board  of  our  ship,  moving  among  ourselves,  with  man- 
ners and  customs  totally  unlike  the  habits  and  usages  of 
our  Arabian  friends.  His  costume  is  a  red  or  black  cloak 
with  sleeves,  over  a  thin  white  and  long  under  robe,  but- 
toned low  at  the  neck.  These  are  gathered  about  the 
waist  with  a  sash,  in  which  is  placed  a  silver-mounted 
kinger.  A  turban  of  fine  check-linen,  edged  with  red 
and  yellow  stripes  of  silk,  wreaths  his  head.  This,  with 
sandals,  which  are  composed  of  a  sole  of  leather  for  the 
foot  to  rest  upon,  and  an  ornamented  strap  to  cross  the 
instep  of  the  foot,  compose  the  costume  of  this  Arab 
gentleman.  Besides  the  kinger  in  the  sash,  he  bears  a 
long  Damascus  blade  in  its  sheath,  in  his  hand. 

This  dress,  as  described  here,  is  the  same  as  the  cos- 
tume of  the  Prince,  only  the  outer  robe  of  the  Prince  was 
black,  and  laced  with  a  fringe  of  gold  thread  about  the 
neck,  and  down  the  front  on  each  edge  of  the  folds. 

Captain  Calfaun  seems  sincere  in  a  cherished  purpose 
of  visiting,  at  some  time  not  far  onward,  the  United  States, 
and  evidently  is  partial  towards  the  Americans.  We 
doubt  not  but  that  he  would  receive  a  welcome,  that 
would  re-assure  him  in  the  kind  feeling  he  has  cherished 
towards  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  find  his 
own  hospitality  and  politeness  reciprocated  when  visit- 
ing their  shores.  He,  at  least,  may  have  the  assurances 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  189 

of  a  cordial  reception  from  those  who  have  been  so  happy 
as  to  form  his  acquaintance  in  his  own  native  Araby. 

As  evidence  of  the  continued  good  feeling  of  the  Sul- 
tan of  Muscat  towards  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  we  found  that  the  John  Adams,  having  met  his 
Highness  at  Zanzebar,  brought  to  Muscat  an  order  that 
the  Columbia  should  be  supplied  with  water  and  provis- 
ions, on  her  arrival  at  this  place,  on  her  way  to  Bombay. 
Water  has  been  conveyed  to  our  ship  in  the  Sultan's  own 
boats,  and  by  the  Sultan's  own  subjects,  at  the  Sultan's  own 
expense.  We  have  received,  also,  almost  daily,  since  we 
have  been  lying  here,  fruits,  as  presents  from  his  High- 
ness— grapes,  pomegranates,  etc.,  together  with  sheep  and 
goats.  The  Commodore  expressed  a  hope  that  his  High- 
ness would,  at  least,  suffer  him  to  pay  the  men,  who,  at  the 
expense  of  so  much  labor,  watered  our  ship  after  we  had 
been  eighty  days  at  sea ;  but  it  was  replied,  that  his 
Highness  would  not  allow  it,  and  if  any  thing  were  re- 
ceived in  his  absence,  it  would  meet  his  displeasure.  Now, 
this  is  all  a  generous  action  on  the  part  of  this  Arab 
Prince,  which  exhibits  his  hospitality  in  a  light  that  should, 
at  least,  make  the  American  people  feel  that  some  hand- 
some compliment  from  them  would  receive  a  worthy  dis- 
position, should  it  reach  so  magnanimous  a  Prince  as  the 
Sultan  of  Muscat.  And  though  I  know  not  how  far  our 
commercial  interests  shall  be  furthered  by  the  treaty 
which  has  been  formed  between  the  two  governments,  I 
yet  should  be  ashamed  of  my  own  country,  should  it  be 
justly  said,  that  the  generosity  and  hospitality  of  an  Arab 
Prince  surpassed  the  munificence  and  liberality  of  the 
American  Government.* 

It  is  our  purpose  to  weigh  anchor,  and  leave  the  cove 
of  Muscat  this  afternoon,  October  25th.  The  evening 
breeze  regularly  prevails,  and  with  it  we  expect  to  gain 
an  offing  that  will  leave  the  high  shores  of  Oman,  by  the 
morning,  low  in  the  western  distance. 

*  Since  the  visit  of  the  squadron  to  Muscat,  a  vessel  belonging 
to  the  Imam  arrived  in  the  United  States,  bearing  presents  ;  and  on 
her  return,  she  conveyed  from  the  President  reciprocated  testi- 
monies of-  good  feeling  between  the  two  powers,  to  the  Sultan  of 
Muscat. 


190          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


SYED  SYEED  BIN  SOULTAN  S  FAMILY. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting,  in  connection  with  this 
Arabian  Prince,  whose  possessions  we  are  on  the  eve  of 
leaving,  and  by  whose  government  our  ships  have  been 
so  generously  entertained,  to  give  the  following  brief  state- 
ment, in  connection  with  his  Highnesses  family. 

The  Mohammedan  system  entails  endless  dissentions 
on  those  governments  where  it  is  embraced,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  title  to  the  throne.  A  Mohammedan  is  al- 
lowed, by  the  Koran,  four  wives,  and  his  children  by  his 
concubines  are  also  heirs  to  his  father's  titles. 

Seyd  Syeed  Bin  Soultan  is  descended  from  Aimed,  (to 
go  no  further  back,)  who,  at  his  death,  left  five  sons.  Their 
names  were  Seif,  Kis,  Soultan,  Thabit,  Mohammed. 

Kis  was  chief  of  Sohar,  a  town  less  than  a  hundred 
miles  from  Muscat,  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  during  his  father 
Almed's  lifetime,  and  at  his  death. 

Seif,  the  heir  apparent,  being  the  eldest  son,  was  elected 
Sultan*  by  the  chiefs  at  the  decease  of  his  father.  The 
son  of  Seif,  whose  name  was  Aimed,  succeeded  his  father. 
But  on  this  Almed's  death,  who  is  said  to  have  been  him- 
self a  wise  prince,  the  government  was  left  in  confusion. 
The  chiefs,  however,  made  Soultan,  the  third  son  of  the 
elder  AJmed,  Sultan,  who  was  afterwards  slain  by  the 
Johasm  pirates.  This  prince  left  two  sons,  the  present 
Sultan  and  his  brother  Salem.  On  the  death  of  Soultan, 
however,  Kis,  the  chief  of  Sohar  and  brother  of  the  de- 
ceased Sultan,  intrigued  for  the  Sultanship. 

On  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  Sultan,  Budr,  a  cousin 
of  the  present  Sultan  and  his  brother  Salem,  and  son  of 
Seif,  having  previously  retired  into  the  interior,  and  living 
with  the  tribes  there  for  some  time,  now  returned,  and 
agreed  to  live  on  terms  of  amity  with  his  two  cousins. 
While  in  the  interior  he  had  joined  the  tribe  of  the  Wa- 
habis,  who  were  rapidly  extending  their  power.  The 
three  cousins  now  united  their  influence  against  the  en- 
croachments and  pretensions  of  their  uncle  Kis,  the  gov- 
ernor of  Sohar.  But  Budr  having  ingratiated  himself 

*  Im&m  is  the  Arabic  title. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          191 

with  the  interior  tribes,  they  were  desirous  of  seeing  him 
made  Sultan  ;  and  aware  of  his  influence  with  these 
tribes,  he  entered  into  a  secret  treaty  with  the  Wahabis, 
that  if  they  would  place  him  in  the  Sultanship  of  Muscat, 
he  would  contribute  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  their  tribe, 
and  hold  his  power  as  Sultan  of  Muscat,  as  a  tributary 
Prince  to  the  chief  of  the  Wahabis. 

Syed  Syeed,  being  now  assured  that  his  throne  would 
be  insecure  so  long  as  this  intriguing  cousin  Budr  lived, 
contrived  to  have  him  assassinated  at  a  village  named 
Namhan,  near  Burka3,  on  the  sea-coast. 

The  struggle,  however,  was  not  yet  over.  Saoud,  chief 
of  the  powerful  and  increasing  tribe  of  the  Wahabis,  who 
styled  themselves  reformers,  with  whom  Budr  had  entered 
into  a  treaty,  as  previously  stated,  now  demanded  that 
Syed  Syeed  should  ratify  it  in  his  own  case.  Syed  Syeed 
refusing  indignantly  so  to  comply,  the  Wahabi  chief  waged 
war  against  him  ;  and  with  a  force  of  4,000  Arabs,  under 
Syed  ibn  Matack,  a  warlike  and  enterprising  chief,  so  re- 
duced Syed  Syeed,  that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of 
seeking  assistance  from  the  Persians.  Eventually  how- 
ever the  death  of  his  uncle  Kis,  followed  by  that  of  Saoud 
and  the  dispersion  of  the  Wahabis,  left  the  present  Sultan 
Syed  Syeed  Bin  Soultan  in  undisturbed  possession  of  his 
dominions. 

These  particulars  of  the  family  of  the  Sultan  are  given 
on  the  authority  of  Welstead,  a  Lieutenant  in  the  English 
navy,  who  has  lately  published  an  account  of  his  survey 
and  travels  through  the  interior,  and  along  the  coast  of 
Oman.  He  pays  a  high  compliment  to  the  present  Sultan 
for  his  liberality,  and  the  assistance  which  he  derived 
from  him  in  furthering  his  purposes  of  science  and  trav- 
els. This  book,  which  was  loaned  me  by  our  Consul  for 
a  hasty  perusal,  I  should  like  to  have  taken  with  me.  But 
I  had  heard  an  anecdote  of  another  work,  which  would 
have  become  too  pointed  towards  myself,  had  I  forgotten 
to  return  the  volumes  to  the  courteous  gentleman  who 
afforded  me  the  pleasure  of  their  perusal. 

Captain  Calfaun  (as  the  story  goes)  possessed  a  copy  of 
the  "  Naval  Monument,"  which  contains  a  description  of 
all  our  engagements  with  the  British,  during  the  late  war 


192          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

with  England.     An  English  officer,  while  one  of  their  ves 
sels  was  lying  in  the  harbor  here,  seeing  the  work,  desired 
to  borrow  it.     But  when  the  English  ship  was  about  leav 
ing  the  cove,  the  officer  assured  Captain  Calfaun  that  the 
book  had  gotten  overboard  in  some  unaccountable  way, 
or  was  otherwise  displaced,  and  greatly  regretted  that  it 
could  not  be  found  to  be  returned. 

The  general  smile  at  this  statement,  as  the  circumstance 
was  alluded  to  at  the  ward-room  table,  was  sufficiently  sig- 
nificant ;  and  as  there  happened,  very  opportunely,  to  be  a 
copy  of  the  same  work  on  board,  Captain  C.  was  asked  to 
accept  it,  who  assured  the  donor  that  he  would  be  more 
careful  of  the  present  copy,  and  would  see  that  it  did  not 
get  wet  or  overboard  if  he  loaned  it  again. 

Captain  Calfaun  had  translated  some  of  the  scenes  in 
this  work,  at  the  request  of  the  Sultan,  that  he  might  learn 
something  of  the  actions  of  our  navy.  And  while  Cap- 
tain C.  was  reading  his  Highness  the  account  of  Perry's 
victory  on  the  lake,  at  that  part  which  describes  his  leav- 
ing his  own  ship,  on  account  of  her  being  so  much  cut  up, 
in  his  small  boat  for  another,  the  Sultan  rose  from  his  seat, 
and  exclaimed,  with  an  emphatic  gesture  of  his  hand, 
"  THAT'S  A  HERO  !" 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  193 

SECTION  VIII. 

BOMB  AY. 

Bombay.  Call  upon  the  American  Missionaries.  Bishop  Carr.  Archdea- 
con Jeffries.  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher.  Stroll  on  shore  at  evening.  Funeral 
pyre.  Breakfast  with  ihe  Lord  Bishop  of  Bombay  and  Family.  Family 
prayers.  Schools  for  the  children  of  the  poor.  The  power  of  Cast. 
Governor  Farish.  Call  on  the  Governor's  lady.  Douglass.  Evening 
prayers.  Governor's  dinner,  at  Parel.  Sir  John  A.  Sir  John  Kean. 
Ride  from  the  Governor's  to  the  Bishop's  by  moonlight.  Caves  of  Ele- 
phanta  Island.  Tea  at  Dr.  Wilson's,  Scotch  Missionary,  and  President 
of  the  Asiatic  Society,  at  Bombay.  Walk  in  the  evening  to  the  Hindoo 
temples.  The  long-nailed  devotee.  Farewell  to  Bombay. 

WELL,  if,  as  they  say,  Bombay  will  give  a  stranger  a 
fever  should  he  move  much  abroad,  it  is  worth  one  fit  of 
illness  to  look  at  the  medley  of  the  fine  and  the  finical ; 
the  grand,  the  great,  the  good,  the  grovelling,  the  gloomy, 
and  the  grievous ;  the  nondescript,  and  the  non-to-be-for- 
gotten,  which  this  very  strange  city  of  Bombay  presents. 

I  have  been  on  shore  this  evening,  after  a  busy  day  of 
writing  to  friends  at  home,  by  an  American  vessel,  which 
we  fortunately  chanced  to  intercept  while  standing  into 
the  harbor,  and  detained  for  our  letter-bag. 

It  was  rather  a  late  hour  when  I  reached  the  shore,  but 
I  saw  enough  to  assure  me  that  there  is  much  to  be  seen, 
and  yet  much  more  which  cannot  be  seen  in  a  passing 
week.  It  is  all  a  vast  and  mingled  variety,  which  strikes 
with  deeper  impressions  than  would  be  the  case  if  ad- 
dressed to  an  eye  that  had  contemplated  the  different  parts 
which  go  to  form  the  variety,  at  the  different  spots  of  the 
world  with  which  they  are  severally  and  singly  associated. 
It  is  England  abroad,  here,  that  meets  the  eye — it  is  the 
French,  and  the  Portuguese,  and  other  powers  of  European 
the  East,  and  specimens.from  all  India,  gathered  at  this  point, 
with  their  gray  hairs  of  olden  years  and  crowded  masses. 

The  object  of  my  visit  to  the  shore,  this  evening,  was 
to  make  some  inquiries  for  future  convenience  ;  and  on  land- 
ing, I  was  trotted  away  and  around  in  a  palanquin,  borne 
on  the  shoulders  of  four  Hindoos,  a  guide  pacing  at  my 

17 


194  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

side,  to  direct  this  Eastern  car  whither  I  desired.  What 
would  my  friends  have  thought  of  me,  could  they  have 
taken  a  peep  at  me,  just  at  the  dusk  of  evening,  borne  on 
as  I  reclined  in  so  strange  a  machine,  on  black  shoulders 
of  black  limbs,  with  turbaned  head  and  ambling  elbows  ? 
They  would  have  seen  me,  as  before  I  had  not  dreamed 
ever  to  be  seen.  In  all  this  varied  and  mingled  vision  of 
the  city,  there  are  a  thousand  things  of  light  and  shade, 
and  oddities  and  fantasies,  which  must  long  lie  in  the 
memory,  when  reviewing  the  ever-varying  forms,  in  which 
the  character  and  the  taste  and  the  religions  of  mankind 
present  themselves,  in  this  very  strange  city  of  the  East. 
As  my  sympathies  directed,  my  first  ca//made  in  Bom- 
bay was  upon  the  American  missionaries.  I  passed  through 
the  city  at  an  early  hour  the  next  morning,  when  all  is  life 
and  bustle.  And  what  a  city  is  Bombay  !  Some  may  be 
disposed  to  accuse  me  of  painting.  But  I  paint  only  from 
my  own  feelings.  And  he  who  has  feeling,  and  loves  to 
look  at  mankind  in  its  varied  forms,  with  susceptibilities 
capable  of  fresh  and  deep  impressions,  and  has  contem- 
plated mankind,  with  but  few  exceptions,  in  its  better  and 
similar  forms  of  European  and  American  peculiarities, 
will  not  accuse  me  of  heightening  the  coloring,  if  he  should 
chance  ever  to  move,  at  this  same  hour,  and  at  his  own 
lounging  ease  and  leisure,  through  the  streets  of  Bombay. 
It  was  a  new  world  to  me,  though  in  the  old  world,  a  far- 
wanderer  from  the  new.  I  had  read  of  Hindoos.  I  had 
read  of  Banyans,  Bramins,  Gentoos.  I  had  read  of  the 
Parsees,  Mohammedans,  and  Sepoys.  But  it  was  never 
among  the  young  dreams  of  my  earlier  years,  while  musing 
on  Rome,  and  Greece,  and  blessed  England,  and  Europe, 
and  the  Holy  Land,  that  I  should  look  upon  these  hundred 
casts  of  Arabia  and  Persia,  and  India,  in  their  variety  of 
costume  and  manners  and  religions.  But  now,  I  was  set 
down  amidst  all  this  medley  of  casts — these  unique  forms — 
these  strange  incongruities  and  endless  varieties — these 
naked  busts  and  robeless  legs — and  thousand-formed  and 
colored  costumes  of  those  who  were  robed — and  the  tat- 
tooed, with  ringed  toes,  and  foot,  and  ancle,  and  wrist,  and 
hand,  and  nose — and  numberless  and  ever-occurring  varie- 
ties of  enslaved  or  degraded,  and  rich  and  proud,  and  mean 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  195 

and  good  and  noble  men,  with  every  colored  skin — from 
the  jet  of  Africa  and  amber  of  Asia,  to  the  lily  of  Europe. 
And  then,  the  describable  and  the  non-describable  animals 
— the  Banyan  and  sacred  cows,  and  buffaloes,  and  sparrows, 
and  ravens,  and  pigeons,  and  goats,  and  other  things  innu- 
merable, all  crammed  and  jammed  and  jumbled  and  hud- 
dled, and  yet  all  a  mass  of  moving  and  acting  life — this, 
this  is  Bombay,  to  the  newly  arrived  stranger,  as  he  is 
borne  through  the  capital  of  an  English-Asiatic  presidency. 

If  this  be  a  confused  collection  of  appellatives  and 
blended  images,  none  but  a  jumbled  and  almost  accidental 
combination  of  words,  could  rightly  or  naturally  describe 
the  confused,  and  varied,  and  ever-varying  scene,  as  it 
breaks  on  the  eye  of  the  stranger,  as  he  moves,  for  the  first 
time,  through  the  streets  of  this  epitome  of  a  world. 
Some  days  pass  on,  and  the  newly  arrived  begins  to  an- 
alyze and  arrange.  By  the  time  he  has  traversed  the  length 
of  one  of  the  streets,  he  finds  himself  beginning  to  class 
the  different  casts,  as  they  pass  him  by,  and  are  known  by 
their  different  turbans — these  head-dresses  varying  with 
the  cast,  but  alike  to  all  the  members  of  each — and  the 
cut  and  make  and  color  of  the  flowing  robe  or  tighter 
costume,  and  the  religious  mark,  lined  in  yellow  paint,  in 
curve  or  oval  or  straight  lines  or  dots  on  the  forehead,  or 
eyebrow,  or  ear,  or  naked  chest,  begin  to  take,  in  his  mind, 
their  appropriate  classification. 

With  this  varying  and  apparently  ever-changing  vision 
of  a  phantasmagoria  before  my  view,  I  had  gone  some  two 
miles  or  more  from  the  walls  of  the  fort,  which  includes 
some  large  portion  of  the  city  within  its  winding  defences, 
when  I  came  to  the  residences  of  the  American  missionaries. 
The  buildings  are  sufficiently  spacious,  to  afford  conveni- 
ent and  comfortable  rooms,  for  the  purposes  and  the  dwell- 
ings of  these  worthy  disciples  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  philanthropic  exiles  from  their  country  and  home 
to  the  shores  of  India. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  mission  were  out  at  the  moment 
of  my  call.  I  sent  my  card  to  the  ladies,  and  immediately 
followed  the  messenger,  who  informed  me  that  they  were 
in.  I  could  have  left  my  shoes  at  their  door,  so  profoundly 
do  I  venerate  the  character  of  the  sincere  missionary,  and 


196  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

admire  his  self-sacrifice  for  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men. 
I  was  introduced  to  Mrs.  Webster,  the  interesting  wife  of 
Mr.  W.,  of  popular  and  just  fame  as  an  ingenious  man  and 
accomplished  printer,  as  well  as  a  man  of  benevolence  and 
Christian  philanthropy.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Balentine,  missiona- 
ries from  the  interior,  are  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster, 
at  the  present  moment,  having,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boggs, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Munger,  come  to  Bombay,  at  this  sea- 
son, for  mutual  consultation  in  connection  with  their  labors. 
The  two  first  gentlemen  with  their  wives  are  staying  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Allen.  I  gave  Mrs.  Webster  my  hand  with 
feelings  which  were  most  cordial,  for  the  love  wherewith 
she  serves  the  cause  of  our  common  Lord.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Allen  soon  after  entered,  who  occupies  another  house  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood,  whom  I  afterwards  called 
upon.  Ere  long  the  Rev.  Mr.  Balentine  and  Mr.  Web- 
ster entered — all  gentlemen,  whom  the  cause  of  missions 
may  justly  be  glad  to  have  attached  to  their  interests. 

I  sat  for  a  considerable  time  with  this  band  of  Christians, 
and  was  glad  to  witness  so  much  simplicity  of  character 
and  Christian  adornment,  with  minds  so  respectable  for 
their  intelligence  and  refinement.  I  thought,  as  I  con- 
versed with  Mrs.  W.,  that  there  was  a  propriety  of  expres- 
sion, a  clearness  of  thought,  and  a  simple  chasteness  of 
manners  that  would  have  adorned  any  sphere  in  which 
she  might  have  been  placed.  And  nothing  but  ill-bred 
jealousy,  profanity,  or  bigoted  sectarianism,  could  offer 
aught  against  such  a  becoming  combination  of  Christian 
propriety  and  unaffected  example  of  Christian  sincerity  and 
propriety  in  manners. 

During  the  day,  I  wras  introduced  to  Mrs.  Allen,  of  whom 
I  might  repeat,  with  striking  propriety,  what  I  conceived  of 
the  character  and  appreciated  in  the  manners  of  Mrs.  W. 
These  ladies  have  not  forgotten  that  society  has  its  techni- 
calities and  refinements,  and  that  religion  is  a  system  of 
good  breeding,  which  makes  it  a  school  of  true  politeness 
as  well  as  of  morals  and  devotion. 

Mrs.  Allen's  health  was  not  good,  but  her  heart  poured 
forth  its  sympathies  in  the  cause  in  which  the  missionaries 
are  engaged,  and  I  shall  remember  with  pleasure  her  gen- 
tle manner,  and  the  social  repast,  of  which  I  partook  with 
Mr.  A.  and  herself. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  197 

I  went  with  Mr.  Allen  to  call  upon  Dr.  Carr,  Lord 
Bishop  of  Bombay — the  Rev.  Mr.  Jeffries,  the  Archdea- 
con— and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher,  the  Bishop's  Chaplain. 
The  Bishop  was  out,  but  we  sat  a  short  time  with  Miss  C., 
the  Bishop's  daughter,  a  young  lady  of  gentle  and  agree- 
able manners,  and  were  soon  joined  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Fletcher  and  lady.  Mr.  F.  is  son-in-law  of  the  Bishop, 
and  resides  in  his  lordship's  family. 

We  conceive  of  an  India  Bishop  as  we  have  learned  of 
a  Heber,  and  know  of  others,  who  have  left  so  favorable 
an  impression  of  their  evangelical  piety  on  the  mind  of  the 
American  church.  I  sat  with  this  family  with  these  asso- 
ciations, and  left  the  Bishop's  residence  with  Mr.  F.  and 
Mr.  A.,  to  call  upon  the  Archdeacon,  whom  we  found  at 
home,  although  just  returned  from  sitting  in  committee 
with  the  Bishop  and  others  connected  with  the  charity 
schools,  which  are  established  here  on  a  commendable 
scale,  with  government  patronage,  and  are  creditable  to 
the  cause  of  British  philanthropy.  The  Archdeacon  is 
deemed  a  benevolent  and  devoted  man.  The  cause  of 
temperance  has  elicited  his  feelings  and  action,  very  much, 
as  I  am  informed,  to  the  extension  of  so  meritorious  a  cause. 
"  America,"  said  the  Archdeacon,  "has  achieved  a  greater 
victory,  in  her  efforts  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  than  her 
annals,  however  proud,  can  otherwise  display.  We  ad- 
mire her  for  her  action  on  this  subject,  and  have  just  re- 
ceived the  intelligence  of  the  resolutions  in  the  Legislatures 
of  Massachusetts  and  Tennessee,  not  to  issue  a  single 
license  for  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  in  either  of  those 
states."  Our  countryman,  Mr.  Delavan,  so  justly  known 
and  estimated  for  his  unceasing  efforts  in  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance, is  a  correspondent  of  Archdeacon  Jeffries,  who 
admires  the  spirit  of  this  American  patriot  and  philanthro- 
pist. While  the  action  of  America  in  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance is  awaking  so  much  admiration,  even  in  the  distant 
regions  of  the  Indies,  shall  she  herself  slacken  in  her  efforts, 
and  suffer  the  fields  of  so  many  victories  to  be  resumed 
by  the  devastations,  desolations,  and  death,  which  spread 
so  fearfully  beneath  the  tramp  of  intemperance  ? 

The  English  army  is  continually  augmenting  at  Bombay, 
as  the  rendezvous  for  the  troops  from  different  parts  of  the 

17* 


198  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Indies,  destined  to  the  Indus,  with  a  design  to  carry  on  the 
war  with  the  Persians.  A  document  of  interest,  showing 
the  comparative  health  of  the  temperance  men  of  the  army 
and  those  who  continue  to  draw  their  grog,  was  lying  on 
the  centre-table,  and  doubtless  will  be  published.  At  times 
the  difference  rose  to  four  per  cent.,  and  was  never  less 
than  two  and  a  half.  This  speaks  volumes  to  our  army 
and  navy  department.  It  was  a  matter  of  exhilarating 
information  to  the  excitable  Archdeacon,  to  learn  that  more 
than  150  men  of  the  Columbia  did  not  draw  their  allow- 
ance of  liquor. 

In  the  Indian  army,  the  cause  of  temperance  has  found 
many  advocates;  "and  the  commander-in-chief" — so  said 
a  gentleman  of  the  party  in  conversation — "  by  some  pub- 
lic act  in  favor  of  the  temperance  cause,  before  he  leaves 
ibr  the  Indus,  is  going  to  do  the  Archdeacon's  heart  good." 

I  parted  with  these  clerical  friends,  with  the  expectation 
of  taking  breakfast  with  them  at  the  Bishop's,  by  invita- 
tion, on  Monday  morning. 

The  American  missionaries  stationed  at  Bombay,  Messrs. 
Allen  and  Webster,  and  the  gentlemen  from  the  interior, 
Messrs.  Boggs,  Munger,  and  Balentine,  now  with  their 
fellow  laborers  at  this  place,  have  visited  the  Columbia. 
I  was  glad  to  pay  them  the  civilities  due  to  a  class  of  our 
own  countrymen,  who  have  left  their  native;  kind  to  devote 
themselves,  with  philanthropic  mid  Christian  benevolence, 
to  the  cause  of  humanity  and  religion. 

The  Commodore  sent  a  special  message  to  invite  them 
to  the  cabin,  when  they  should  have  finished  their  walk 
through  the  ship,  and  with  great  good  feeling  evinced  his 
desire  to  assure  these  gentlemen,  that  he  appreciated  their 
characters  as  Christian  missionaries,  and  in  that  character, 
and  also  as  American  citizens,  was  happy  to  welcome 
them  on  board  the  Columbia.  On  their  taking  leave  of 
the  ship,  after  having  spent  some  time  with  the  Commo- 
dore, he  invited  them,  if  it  would  be  a  matter  of  interest 
for  them  to  visit  the  Elephanta  Caves,  to  make  up  a  party, 
and  he  would  accompany  them,  in  the  ship's  boats,  to  the 
island,  some  six  or  seven  miles  distant. 

I  am  sure  that  the  Christian  people  of  our  country  will 
thank  Commodore  Read  for  his  thoughtful  and  courteous 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          199 

attentions  to  these  generous  exiles  from  their  homes  ;  and 
they  will  be  happy  to  know  that  our  ships  were  not  for- 
getful of  the  courtesies  due  and  cordially  accorded  to  our 
missionary  citizens,  so  worthy,  and  so  far  from  the  shores 
or  their  native  homes,  and  the  scenes  of  their  earliest  and 
happy  recollections.  The  Commodore  desired  me  to  say, 
that  he  would  be  happy  to  have  one  of  their  number  give 
us  a  discourse  on  board  the  Columbia  the  succeeding  Sun- 
day, and  that  he  would  send  a  boat  ashore,  at  the  appoint- 
ed hour,  in  the  morning.  I  was  glad  that  the  opportunity 
was  presented  still  further  to  show  our  feelings  of  appro- 
bation and  commendation  towards  these  gentlemen  and 
their  amiable  associates  ;  and  their  number  being  increased 
at  this  moment  at  the  station  of  Bombay,  by  the  visit  of 
the  missionaries  from  the  interior,  it  was  arranged  that  one 
of  them  should  be  with  us  on  the  succeeding  Sunday. 

FUNERAL    PYRE. 

I  took  a  stroll  on  shore  in  the  evening.  Having  wit- 
nessed the  drilling  of  the  Sepoys,  native  troops  in  the 
service  of  the  company,  at  their  evening  exercise  on  the 
esplanade,  and  passed  the  worshipping  Parsees  with  their 
face  turned  to  the  sea  as  one  of  the  elements  which  they 
adore,  and  who  were  now  in  considerable  numbers  gather- 
ed, at  this  hour  of  sunset,  on  this  beautiful  ground  of  the 
esplanade,  to  gaze  on  the  departing  god  whom  they  wor- 
ship, with  other  sects  and  casts  at  their  sundown  prayers, 
I  passed  further  on  to  the  western  side  of  the  city,  where 
we  had  been  told  the  Mahrattas  burned  their  dead.  The 
sun  had  already  gone  down ;  and  when  we  reached  the 
beach,  several  fires  were  seen  yet  burning  along  the  shore. 
We  approached  them,  but  they  were  so  nearly  expended 
that  we  saw  but  few  indications,  in  the  glowing  embers, 
of  the  relics  of  the  cindered  bodies.  The  uncrumbled  ashes 
of  a  few  bones  assured  us,  however,  that  we  were  gazing 
upon  the  residuum  of  what,  but  a  short  time  before,  was 
the  articulated  mass  of  sinew  and  bone  and  muscle  of  a 
departed  Hindoo,  whose  spirit  his  brother  Mahrattas  now 
believe  to  have  gone  on  its  round  of  new  births,  or,  as  the 
consummation  of  their  ideas  of  the  greatest  conceivable 


200          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

good  to  the  departing  soul,  was  now  absorbed  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Eternal. 

While  we  were  gazing  on  this  expiring  funeral  pyre, 
a  person  approached  us,  and  pointed  to  a  group  not  far 
beyond  us,  who  were  raising  a  new  pile,  on  which  they 
were  to  place  the  body  they  had  borne  with  them  but  a 
few  moments  before  to  the  beach,  attended  by  the  sounds 
of  discordant  music,  for  his  last  funeral  honors.  We 
were  glad  that  we  were  so  opportune  in  our  visit  to  this 
beach  of  death,  to  gratify  the  curiosity  that  led  us  there. 
Three  upright  sticks  had  already  been  planted  in  the  sand 
to  confine  the  pile  within  its  proper  dimensions,  and  the 
friends  of  the  deceased,  now  lying  near  on  his  bier  note- 
less of  the  preparations  which  were  making  to  reduce  his 
unconscious  relics  to  ashes,  were  arranging  the  large  and 
dry  sticks  of  teel-wood,  which  is  kept  prepared  and  vended 
for  the  funeral  rites  of  the  Hindoo.  When  they  had  rais- 
ed the  pile  to  half  the  height  they  designed  it,  they  bore 
the  body  forward  and  lodged  it  on  the  mound  of  wood. 
There  was  an  old  man  there,  who,  like  all  the  rest  that  had 
gathered  to  pay  the  last  honors  of  the  cast  to  one  of  their 
departed  number,  was  clad  only  with  a  cloth  around  the 
waist,  as  is  usual  on  the  occasion  of  the  Hindoo  obsequies. 
He  had  gone  to  the  edge  of  the  sea,  w^hich  at  this  hour  of 
low  tide  was  some  rods  from  the  pile,  but  soon  returned 
bearing  a  jar  of  water,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  sleeping  kindred.  When  he  had  poured  from  the  palm 
of  his  own  hand  a  small  quantity  of  water  upon  the  face 
and  into  the  mouth  of  the  unconscious  sleeper,  each  of  the 
surrounding  cast  dipped  their  hands  in  like  manner  into 
the  jar,  and  poured  from  their  two  palms  the  water  which 
they  had  thus  taken  from  the  vessel,  into  the  mouth  of  the 
deceased.  They  now  completed  the  pile,  by  adding  as 
much  more  of  this  heavy  and  dry  material  above  the  body 
as  lay  beneath  it.  A  small  pile  of  light  wood  had  already 
been  enkindled,  and  the  burning  fagots  were  placed  among 
the  timbers  of  the  funeral  heap,  and  in  a  few  moments  the 
drawing  eddies  of  the  wind  fanned  the  flames,  until  the 
pyre  was  enveloped  in  one  ambient  and  glowing  sheet 
of  fire. 

The  Hindoos  now  seated   themselves   in  a  crescent 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  201 

around  the  burning  pile,  and  the  glare  lighted  up  their 
dark  faces  and  naked  shoulders,  and  threw  a  gleam  of  light 
around,  only  to  render  doubly  more  deep  the  gloom  that 
had  gathered  on  the  adjacent  cocoa-nut  grove,  and  the 
clouded  bosom  of  the  neighboring  sea.  We  watched  the 
glowing  mass  as  the  body  began  to  melt  before  the  dis- 
solving power  of  the  resistless  element.  The  swelling 
muscles,  with  their  boiling  fluids,  bursted  the  outer  and 
blackening  coats  of  the  body ;  and  soon  the  limbs  were 
dismembered  at  the  knee,  when  the  swollen  feet,  by  a 
long  pole,  were  forced  yet  further  into  the  glowing  pile. 

It  was  a  thrilling  scene,  and  we  gazed  upon  it  until  the 
dissolving  body  lessened  before  the  flame,  while  the  head 
had  melted  away  and  still  away,  as  the  burning  pyre  sent 
up  and  around  its  glowing  and  intenser  heat,  and  yet 
brighter  and  augmenting  volumes.  We  bowed  to  the 
surrounding  and  singular  crowd,  who  rose  from  their  sit- 
ting posture  as  we  left  them,  and  retraced  our  way  along 
the  shore.  Having  passed  through  the  town  on  our  way 
back  to  our  landing  place,  a  boat  soon  took  us  to  the  ship. 

According  to  the  regulations  of  the  cast,  the  heir  of 
the  deceased  is  obligated  to  perform  the  funeral  obsequies 
of  the  connection,  and  at  stated  periods,  afterwards,  to 
attend  to  certain  rites,  agreeably  to  the  Hindoo  customs — 
such  as  the  offering  of  rice,  flowers,  water,  and  so  forth, 
to  the  deceased  and  to  the  manes,  that  the  departed  spirit 
may  ascend  to  the  paradise  of  the  Pitris,  as  they  call  the 
divine  progenitors  of  the  human  race.  These  offerings 
are  to  take  place  on  the  eleventh  day  succeeding  the  death 
of  the  deceased,  and  afterwards  monthly,  and  on  the  an- 
niversary of  the  death  of  the  departed  one. 

VISIT    TO    THE    LORD    BISHOP    OF    BOMBAY. 

Having  received  an  invitation  from  Dr.  Carr,  Lord 
Bishop  of  Bombay,  to  breakfast  with  him  on  the  morning 
of  the  sixth,  I  left  the  ship  a  little  before  eight  o'clock, 
and  found,  on  my  reaching  the  Apollo-bunder,  a  carriage 
waiting  for  me,  through  his  Lordship's  politeness,  to  take 
me  to  Byculla. 

The  Bishop  is  a  venerable  gentleman,  simple  in  his  man- 


202          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ners,  with  an  air  of  kind  diffidence  in  his  address  which 
makes  you  esteem  him  and  believe  you  would  love  him  for 
his  goodness  on  an  intimate  acquaintance. 

I  reached  the  Bishop's  residence  a  little  before  nine 
o'clock.  I  was  shown  into  a  spacious  upper  room,  into 
which  other  rooms,  nearly  as  spacious,  communicated.  In 
front  of  these  rooms  runs  a  spacious  and  covered  verandah, 
constituting,  itself,  an  upper  hall,  and  extending  quite  the 
length  of  the  building.  The  verandah  is  common  to  the 
best  style  of  houses  in  Bombay,  to  protect  the  rooms  from 
the  intense  heat  of  the  day,  and  affording  a  most  agree- 
able lounge  in  the  cooler  hours  of  the  morning  and  even- 
ing. A  centre-table,  with  a  large  family  Bible  and  Prayer 
Book  upon  it,  occupied  its  appropriate  place.  A  piano 
forte,  also,  particularly  attracted  my  attention.  And  I 
never  look  at  this  instrument  when  abroad,  without  having 
my  sympathies  awake 

"  Some  remembered  notes  of  a  mute  lyre," 

which  carry  me  back  to  friends  and  kindred,  to  whom  I 
have  listened  almost  in  enchantment  in  past  hours,  but 
whose  voices  now,  in  repetition  of  air,  and  song,  and  sacred 
hymn,  would  hold  me  in  deeper  charm  than  ever,  after  an 
absence  of  months  away  from  home  and  sounds  of  familiar 
voices. 

The  Bishop  entered  with  his  eldest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Fletcher,  leaning  upon  his  arm.  Who  does  not  love  to 
look  at  such  a  sight — a  lovely  and  loved  daughter,  grown 
to  the  pride  of  young  womanhood,  pressing  gently  on  the 
parental  arm  of  a  venerable  father  ?  Miss  Carr,  a  younger 
daughter  still,  soon  after  entered  the  parlor;  and  the  party 
now  gathered  around  the  centre-table,  when  the  good,  and 
I  am  sure,  kind-hearted  Bishop,  opened  the  sacred  volume 
and  read  a  chapter  from  one  of  Saint  Paul's  epistles,  and 
added  his  own  reflections  upon  it.  We  all  knelt,  and  to- 
gether prayed  to  the  God  we  worship.  I  could  have  wept; 
for  it  was  the  first  scene  of  social  worship  at  the  family 
altar  in  which  I  had  been  privileged  to  mingle,  since  I  left 
the  United  States. 

I  am  sure  the  susceptibilities  of  our  nature  are  both 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  203 

deepened  and  augmented  for  the  reception  of  impressions, 
by  one's  seclusion  for  months  from  society  on  shore.  And 
how  like  one's  father's  house,  that  morning  and  evening 
service  !  There  is  a  beauty  in  the  domestic  scene,  when 
the  family  gather  at  early  morn  to  testify  their  gratitude 
to  our  almighty  Preserver  for  the  mercies  of  the  night,  and 
at  eve,  for  the  blessings  of  the  day. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher,  the  Bishop's  chaplain  and  son- 
in-law,  joined  us  at  the  breakfast-table. 

The  family  are  on  the  eve  of  leaving  Bombay  for  the 
interior,  where  they  spend  some  months  in  the  mountains, 
for  health  and  pleasantness.  The  Bishop  is  just  commen- 
cing an  extensive  visitation  through  the  interior.  He 
leaves,  with  all  his  family,  on  Wednesday. 

At  1 1  o'clock  I  accompanied  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher,  to 
visit  the  schools  for  promoting  education  among  the  poor. 
They  are,  in  many  particulars,  conducted  on  the  principles 
of  our  Free  Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  Com- 
pany has  constructed  two  ranges  of  fine  buildings,  for  the 
separate  accommodation  of  the  boys  and  girls,  which  do 
credit  to  the  Presidency  of  Bombay,  and  speak  well  of 
English  benevolence  and  charity. 

The  schools  are  composed  chiefly  of  the  children  of  sol- 
diers, being  mostly  of  the  mixed  cast  of  Mahratta  and 
English.  The  children  exhibited  a  very  neat  appearance. 
We  have  no  schools  in  our  country  with  which  we  could 
with  propriety  run  a  parallel ;  as  these  children,  I  am  told, 
originally  speak  no  English,  and  have  to  acquire  that  lan- 
guage as  they  proceed  in  their  studies.  Most  of  the  schol- 
ars whom  I  saw  were  under  the  age  of  twelve.  They  read 
English  with  very  considerable  accuracy,  and  seemed  to 
comprehend,  as  far  as  children  of  their  age  usually  do,  the 
instructions  which  are  given  to  them,  in  illustration  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Bible  is  the  principal  and 
last  class-book  used,  and  explanations  in  connection  with  it 
enter  into  the  plans  of  the  directors,  particularly  for  imbu- 
ing the  minds  of  these  scholars  with  Christian  knowledge ; 
while  they  attend  to  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  during 
the  time  of  their  connection  with  the  schools.  The  boys, 
when  they  have  reached  the  suitable  age  and  acquired  the 
necessary  attainments,  are  apprenticed  to  the  different 


204  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

trades,  or  taken  as  writers  into  the  Company's  offices ;  or, 
at  the  present  moment,  are  attached  to  the  army  as  dri- 
vers of  the  teams,  at.  a  certain  rate  of  pay,  to  be  gradu- 
ally increased  to  the  maximum  allowance  of  the  first  of 
that  class. 

I  did  not  visit  the  schools  composed  purely  of  natives, 
which  are  under  the  direction  of  the  same  gentlemen.  But 
the  schools  already  described  seem  to  be  favorite  objects 
of  the  gentlemen  connected  with  the  superintendence  of 
the  institution  ;  and  they  certainly  deserve  great  credit  for 
the  exertions,  appropriations,  and  successful  efforts  which 
have  presented  their  benevolent  institution  in  a  very  favora- 
ble light. 

The  Right  Honorable  the  Governor  is  President. 

The  Lord  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  Patron. 

The  Members  of  Council,  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  the  Superintendent  of 
the  Indian  Navy,  are  Vice  Presidents. 

The  Archdeacon  is  Vice  Patron,  and 

All  the  Chaplains  of  the  establishment,  who  are  subscri- 
bers, are  ex-officio  Directors.* 

There  is  an  hospital  department  attached  to  the  institu- 
tion, with  a  medical  attendant. 

Morning  and  evening  prayers  are  read  ;  and  when  the 
pupil  leaves  the  school,  a  Bible  and  Prayer  Book  are  pre- 
sented to  him,  with  a  testimonial  of  character  when  de- 
served. 

The  Lady  Patroness  and  Directresses  transact  the  busi- 
ness of  the  girls'  department. 

The  fiftieth  and  fifty-fifth  articles  of  the  institution  pro- 
vide that  the  boys  shall  be  instructed  in  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic ;  the  girls  in  needle-work  and  household 
duties  ;  and  in  both  schools  every  endeavor  is  to  be  made 
to  "impart  such  information  and  useful  habits,  as  the  situa- 
tion of  the  charity  renders  most  desirable ;  but  particularly 
they  are  to  be  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  church  of 
England,  and  trained  up  in  habits  of  piety  and  good  morals. 
And  before  the  time  at  which  they  are  to  leave  school,  the 

*  To  these  gentlemen,  and  other  ex-officio  Directors,  is  confided 
the  government  of  the  institution. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  205 

boys  are  to  be  bound  as  apprentices  if  practicable,  and  the 
girls  disposed  of  by  marriage,  or  with  due  consideration 
restored  to  their  friends." 

The  hope  of  the  success  of  missions  in  the  East  must 
continue  to  lie  in  the  education  of  the  native  children. 
Nothing  else  can  break  down  the  powerful  influence  of 
cast,  which  with  an  iron  chain  binds  each  man  to  his  own 
peculiar  clan.  To  lose  one's  cast,  to  a  Hindoo,  is  to  be  an 
outcast  from  a  father's  family,  and  an  object  of  execration 
to  all  relatives  and  acquaintances.  A  beautiful  boy  of  the 
Gentoo  cast,  who  was  riding  with  me  in  a  buggee,  with  a 
turban  more  elegant  than  usual  and  a  hand  that  would  have 
graced  a  lady's  arm  for  the  roundness  and  smallness  of  his 
ringers,  tapering  in  perfect  symmetry,  replied  to  me,  as  I 
was  urging  him  to  accompany  me  to  America:  "Me  no  go, 
master — me  no  go — me  eat  no  pork — me  eat  no  beef — me 
lose  my  cast" 

"  What  of  your  cast,  Alee  ?  American  cast  as  good  as 
yours." 

"  Yes,  master,"  continued  the  sincere  Hindoo,  "  your 
cast  good  to  America — English  cast  good  to  English,  but 
no  good  to  Gentoo.  Friend  be  dear  to  each  other — I  no 
have  my  friends  more  if  I  lose  my  cast." 

"  But  if  you  come  back  and  have  your  pockets  filled 
with  money,  you  can  get  your  cast  again." 

"  Yes,  master,  I  have  two  or  tree  hundred  rupee,  me  get 
my  cast  again." 

"  But,  Alee,  what  would  your  cast  do  with  the  money 
you  would  give  them?" 

"  Cast  give  great  dinner — all  can't  come  to  it,  but  all 
invited,  and  all  come,  who  come." 

We  thus  see  that  both  prejudice,  inconceivably  strong, 
and  moneyed  interests  are  against  all  innovation  on  the  old 
system.  And  no  one  can  adequately  estimate  the  strength 
of  this  feeling  of  cast.  It  hoots  at  a  renegade.  And  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  approach  the  convictions  of  the  mass 
who  are  grown  to  manhood,  if  for  no  other  reason,  yet,  for 
their  little  or  no  acquaintance  with  English,  as  well  as  their 
settled  habits  connected  with  their  own  creeds,  which  are 
interwoven  with  every  thought  and  action  of  their  being, 
and  preclude  the  expectation  of  their  appreciating  or  list- 

18 


206  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ening  to  the  argument  for  the  truth  of  Christianity.  The 
setting  in  of  English  influence,  however  in  some  instances 
it  may  tend  to  corrupt  the  people,  must  eventually  carry 
with  it,  over  this  empire  of  millions,  a  respect  for  the 
Christian  institutions  ;  and  by  the  constant  exhibition  of 
the  superiority  of  their  English  masters,  the  Hindoos  must 
finally  come  to  attribute  this  greater  excellence  to  the  su- 
periority of  the  Christian  system  over  their  religion.  And 
this  is  in  fact  the  secret  of  the  national  greatness  of  their 
British  conquerors  over  the  submissive  and  superstitious 
millions,  adhering  to  their  own  Hindoo  follies  of  religion 
and  cast. 

And  it  is  in  this  view  we  see  the  importance  of  the 
schools  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  and  others  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  Presidency,  whether  under  the  care 
of  the  Government,  or  under  the  management  of  American, 
Scotch,  or  British  missionaries.  The  yearly  throwing  of 
five  hundred  or  a  thousand  children,  who  are  to  become 
the  heads  of  families,  into  this  mass  of  heathenism,  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  two  languages  and  the  better  principles 
of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  cannot  but  have  a  gradual 
and  permanent  influence  upon  the  heathen  population,  and 
in  time,  render  idolatry  a  thing  of  ridicule  ;  and  an  adher- 
ence to  it,  a  matter  of  disgrace  and  shame  to  its  devotee. 

We  passed  by  Christ's  church,  in  which  Mr.  Fletcher 
officiates,  as  we  left  the  school  buildings,  with  the  intention 
of  calling  upon  the  family  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor. 
The  building  is  a  creditable  specimen  of  architecture,  but 
mostly  interesting  for  its  twelve  or  fourteen  fluted  pillars 
of  cast  iron,  of  the  Grecian  order,  extending  in  two  rows 
from  the  door  to  the  altar,  equidistant  from  the  sides 
through  the  nave  of  the  church.  Pilasters  for  the  side 
walls  of  the  building  correspond  with  the  two  central 
ranges  of  columns.  The  beautiful  capitals  and  the  shafts 
of  the  pillars  are  in  one  piece,  and  the  diameter  of  the  col- 
umns I  suppose  to  be  a  tenth  of  their  length. 

It  was  the  day  on  which  Mrs.  Farish,  the  Governor's 
lady,  received  her  company.  And  the  Governor  had 
been  kind  enough  to  say  that  he  would  see  me  when  I 
called  upon  Mrs.  Farish.  We  were  introduced  by  the 
Governor's  Aid,  and  sat  a  short  time  with  Mrs.  F.  and 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          207 

her  daughter,  a  young  lady  of  seventeen  or  eignteen ; 
and  met  at  the  Governor's  residence,  which  is  a  charming 
spot,  other  ladies,  who  had  called  on  the  Governor's  lady 
at  the  same  hour. 

The  character  of  Governor  Parish  is  well  known  for 
its  benevolence,  and  the  happy  Christian  influence  which 
he  has  thrown  over  the  state  of  society  in  which  he  moves. 

To  the  American  missionaries,  I  have  been  assured,  he 
has  been  very  kind,  and  advanced  their  desires  as  far  as 
they  have  come  within  the  influence  of  his  station,  as  a 
member  of  the  Council  and  as  a  Christian  citizen.  I  con- 
ceived a  most  favorable  opinion  of  this  worthy  gentle- 
man at  our  short  interview. 

An  invitation  had  already  been  given  by  his  Excel- 
lency to  our  Commodore  to  dine  with  him  on  the  succeed- 
ing Wednesday,  with  such  of  his  officers  as  he  should 
choose  to  have  accompany  him. 

We  returned  to  the  residence  of  the  Bishop ;  and  at 
five  o'clock  sat  down  to  dinner,  the  company  having  been 
increased  by  the  acquisition  of  a  number  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen.  A  Captain  Douglass  of  the  Indian  service, 
formerly  of  the  Royal  Navy,  was  at  the  table. 

"  The  Douglass."  I  cherish  but  little  deference  for 
titles  or  names,  or  admiration  for  great  men  in  loco,  merely, 
and  believe  that  "  nobilitas  sola  est  atque  unica  virtus."* 
Yet  there  is  a  charm  in  the  name  of  Douglass  which  I 
greatly  appreciate,  in  connection  with  its  olden  associa- 
tions. I  have  even  formed  an  affection  for  the  memory 
of  the  Douglass  and  the  Percy,  associated  as  they  indis- 
solubly  are  together.  And  if  the  impression  which  I 
gained  be  true,  there  is  generosity  and  nobleness  remain- 
ing in  this  blood-descendant  of  the  ancient  house.  The 
Captain  displays  from  his  mast-head,  as  his  private  signal, 
the  emblem  of  his  house.  Allusion  to  the  Douglass  coat 
of  arms  led  to  the  remark  on  the  part  of  Captain  D.,  that 
he  was  once  sailing  from  England,  when  he  discovered  a 
vessel  with  her  union  down,  and  made  her  out  to  be  in 
distress.  He  bore  up  for  the  ship,  and  as  the  two  vessels 
neared  each  other,  he  run  up  his  private  flag.  "  I  know 

*  Virtue  is  the  only  and  true  nobility. — Juvenal 


208          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

that  emblem,"  exclaimed  the  master  of  the  distressed  ship, 
as  the  flag  unfurled  itself  and  discovered  the  arms  of  the 
ancient  house.  "  It  is  the  Douglass  ;  he  will  not  forsake 
me  while  my  ship  swims."  The  Douglass  did  not — for 
the  distressed  captain  and  his  crew  had  barely  reached 
the  deck  of  Douglass's  ship  before  the  wallowing  vessel 
went  down  to  the  deep  currents  of  the  deep  sea. 

It  is  said  a  Scotchman  never  forgets  the  land  of  his 
home.  Like  the  New-Englander,  he  may  wander  far 
from  his  native  hills  and  the  remembered  lawns,  which 
have  left  their  unfading  visions  among  the  early  impres- 
sions of  his  mind  and  the  young  loves  of  his  feeling  heart. 
And  when  he  has  wandered  far,  and  made  himself  rich 
and  honorable,  he  yet  often  returns  in  his  happy  mem- 
ories, and  not  unfrequently  re-seeks,  in  person,  the  home 
of  his  infancy,  as  the  sacred  spot  to  enjoy  the  calm  of  his 
old  days,  and  to  repose,  for  its  long  rest,  the  urn  of  his 
ashes.  The  Hon.  Mr.  Dunlop,  member  of  Council,  is  a 
Scotchman,  and  was  of  the  company  at  dinner.  Scot- 
land seemed  to  be  a  word  which  had  not  lost  its  music 
for  him.  And  that  lady  now  at  the  piano,  he  said  to  me, 
in  the  evening,  learned  her  music  in  Scotland. 

And  in  the  evening  we  had  music.  I  shall  not  forget 
it.  The  Bishop's  two  daughters  played  and  sung.  Their 
voices  were  soft  and  gentle  like  themselves.  And  the 
lady  of  the  Highland  associations  also  sung.  There  was 
a  thrill  in  her  voice,  which  rendered  it  characterisic  of 
herself  and  agreeable. 

After  tea  had  been  served,  and  the  hours  had  advanced 
into  the  evening,  the  party  adjourned  from  the  parlor  to 
the  drawing-room,  which  communicated  with  it  by  fold- 
ing-doors. There  was  an  organ  in  the  room,  and  the 
family  Bible  and  Prayer  Book  occupied  the  centre-table. 
The  Bishop  placed  himself  at  the  centre-table,  and  his 
daughter  at  the  organ,  as  it  had  been  proposed  that  we 
should  have  prayers  before  the  party  separated.  A 
hymn  was  read  by  the  venerable  Bishop ;  and  he  who 
has  been  a  wanderer  over  the  world  afar  from  his  friends 
in  his  native  land,  can  appreciate  the  sentiment  it  con- 
tained, as  well  as  every  Christian,  to  whom  alike  it  is 
applicable : 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  209 

**  The  Lord  my  pasture  shall  prepare, 
And  feed  me  with  a  shepherd's  care ; 
His  presence  shall  my  wants  supply, 
And  guard  me  with  a  watchful  eye  ; 
My  noonday  walks  he  shall  attend, 
And  all  my  midnight  hours  defend. 

When  in  the  sultry  glebe  I  faint, 
Or  on  the  thirsty  mountain  pant, 
To  fertile  vales  and  dewy  meads, 
My  weary  wandering  steps  he  leads, 
Where  peaceful  rivers,  soft  and  slow, 
Amid  the  verdant  landscape  flow. 

Though  in  the  paths  of  death  I  tread, 

With  gloomy  horrors  overspread  ; 

My  steadfast  heart  shall  fear  no  ill, 

For  thou,  O  Lord,  art  with  me  still ; 

Thy  friendly  crook  shall  give  me  aid, 

And  guide  me  through  the  dreadful  shade." 

The  organ  was  accompanied  by  several  voices.  The 
Bishop  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  and  added  his  com- 
ments, and  then,  together,  we  knelt  in  prayer. 

Is  there  any  heart  so  callous  that  would  not  love  such 
a  scene  of  quiet  and  social  worship,  exhibiting  the  beauty 
of  household  religion  ?  And  who,  after  the  confusion  and 
the  unrest  of  the  day,  would  not  repose  with  a  more  as- 
sured and  composed  heart,  after  mingling  in  such  a  scene 
of  evening  worship  ?  And  who  can  behold  a  venerable 
father,  surrounded  by  his  offspring  and  friends,  thus  de- 
voutly engaging  in  social  and  sincere  worship,  and  not 
give  him  the  earnest  of  an  enduring  friendship  ? 

Douglass,  (I  like  that  name,)  had  said  to  me  in  the 
early  part  of  the  evening,  that  if  I  designed  to  return  to 
the  ship,  he  would  offer  me  a  seat  in  his  carriage  to  the 
Apollo-bunder,  and  then  send  me  on  board  the  Columbia 
in  his  gig.*  I  accepted  the  polite  offer,  and  accompanied 
Captain  D.  and  his  lady  in  their  carriage,  and  bid  them 
good-night  when  they  had  ascended  the  deck  of  their 
own  vessel,  to  which  we  had  been  pulled  in  his  own  boat, 
which  soon  after  conveyed  me  yet  further  out  in  the 
stream,  to  the  good  frigate  Columbia. 

*  *  The  boat  of  the  Commander  of  an  armed  vessel  is  called  a  gig. 

18* 


210          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


DINNER  AT  THE  GOVERNORS. 

The  Governor  gave  his  dinner  at  the  government-house, 
on  Wednesday  evening,  in  compliment,  in  part  at  least, 
to  our  Commodore.  At  half-past  seven  the  carriages 
disgorged  their  red-coats,  and  blue-coats  of  the  English 
army  and  American  navy,  and  the  black  coats  of  the  civil 
list,  composed  of  the  Council  and  the  bench  of  Judges ; 
together  with  the  Bishop  and  Chaplain  and  the  variously 
robed  ladies,  who,  though  mentioned  last  here,  in  this 
instance  is  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  their  own 
postcripts  ;  for  which,  it  is  said,  a  lady  ever  retains  her 
most  interesting  intelligence,  or  what,  at  least,  is  most  in- 
teresting to  herself. 

The  Governor's  house  is  a  spacious  building,  said  once 
to  have  been  a  Roman  Catholic  cloister,  the  chapel  of 
which,  on  the  lower  floor,  now  serves  as  the  dining  hall ; 
while  the  spacious  room  above  it,  to  which  you  ascend 
by  two  or  three  flights  of  steps,  with  suits  of  rooms  and 
a  verandah  on  either  side  of  it,  forms  the  reception  hall. 
But  the  building  has  been  refitted  and  enlarged,  and  now 
is  every  way  a  creditable  establishment  for  the  purposes 
for  which  it  is  appropriated,  as  the  residence  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Presidency.  Its  distance  is  some  six  miles 
from  the  inwalled  portion  of  the  town,  and  the  ride  to  it 
is  a  delightful  one  through  extensive  country  residences, 
built  by  the  Parsees  for  the  purposes  of  being  rented  to 
the  English ;  and  at  this  hour  of  the  evening,  when  the 
company  were  gliding  by  them,  were  lighted  up  with 
their  hundred  lamps,  giving  forth  the  beautifully  clear 
flame  of  the  cocoa-nut  oil,  burning  in  open  glasses,  around 
which  rose  a  yet  longer  one  to  protect  the  light  from 
flaring  in  the  evening  breeze,  which  comes  deliciously 
through  the  open  windows,  swinging  on  their  hinges  quite 
down  to  the  floor,  that  every  breath  of  the  refreshing 
gale  may  sweep  through  the  open  rooms. 

The  large  room  writh  the  spacious  lobbies  on  either  side 
formed  by  the  verandahs,  were  soon  enlivened  by  the 
crowd  that  entered,  and  advanced  to  be  presented  to  Mrs. 
Parish,  the  Governor's  lady,  who  had  taken  her  place  near 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  211 

the  centre  of  the  room.  The  ladies  were  presented  by 
the  Governor's  Aid,  a  young  officer  of  gentlemanly  man- 
ners. 

Miss  Carr,  the  Bishop's  daughter,  with  her  cousin,  Miss 
Parish,  were  the  first  two  who  entered  the  room  after  the 
Governor's  lady  had  taken  her  seat.  And  Miss  Carr,  I 
am  sure,  will  be  remembered  as  an  interesting  vision  of 
amiableness,  as  if  some  ineffable  beam  had  gleamed  from 
the  benignant  and  subdued  brow  of  her  father,  and  lighted 
on  the  sweet  countenance  of  his  child.  We  admired  her 
as  possessing  more  truly  an  American  face,  manners,  and 
fashion  than  any  others  who  were  present.  Her  cousin, 
the  Governor's  daughter,  in  blue,  in  contrast  with  the 
plain  and  tasteful  white  of  Miss  Carr,  is  also  an  interest- 
ing young  lady,  and  seemed  to  be  a  worthy  representative 
of  her  excellent  and  very  lady-like  mother.  There  were  a 
number  of  other  ladies  present,  generally  plainly  dressed 
and  without  a  superabundance  of  ornaments  decorating 
their  persons,  and  therefore,  more  in  taste  than  otherwise 
they  would  have  been. 

The  Governor  was  conspicuous  in  his  civilian  dress  of 
plain  black,  moving  unostentatiously  among  his  guests. 
His  face  is  strikingly  benevolent ;  and  he  is  one  I  would 
venture  to  take  as  a  pledged  friend,  were  circumstances 
such  as  to  secure  from  him,  in  an  hour  of  one's  need,  the 
plighted  hand  of  sterling  worth,  and  the  action  of  a  gen- 
erous nature.  In  consequence  of  the  death  of  Sir  Robert 
Grant,  he  is  now  the  acting  Governor  of  the  Presidency, 
an  appointment  which  falls,  ex-officio,  on  the  demise  of 
the  Governor,  upon  the  eldest  of  the  two  civilian  members 
of  the  Council. 

The  Hon.  Sir  -  — ,  Knight,  Judge,  etc.,  was  of  the 
number  to  whom  I  was  introduced.  I  should  suppose 
him  (but  my  impressions  were  the  result  of  a  short  inter- 
view) a  man  of  great  amiableness  of  character,  with  a 
smack  of  letters,  somewhat  gifted,  read  in  polite  litera- 
ture, and  withal  amiably  eccentric.  His  manners  are  cer- 
tainly so,  resulting  (is  it  not  ?)  from  his  keen  perception 
of  the  ridiculous.  And  when  he  would  express  himself 
in  connection  with  a  subject,  his  own  mind  rejects  the 
common-place  replies,  and  seizes  hold  of  a  more  distant 


212  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

association ;  and  the  very  consciousness  of  its  peculiarity 
produces  a  peculiarity  of  manner  which  is  his  own, 
though  perhaps,  from  natural  diffidence,  the  manner  is 
defective  in  its  correspondence  with  the  sentiment  ex- 
pressed ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  betrays  his  own  con- 
sciousness that  his  remark  has  the  merit  of  originality  in 
its  associations,  and  is  peculiar  to  himself. 

"  We  are  happy  to  acknowledge  England  as  our  mo- 
ther-land," I  observed  in  a  conversation  upon  the  two 
countries,  and  added,  after  the  usual  self-complacence  of 
an  American,  notorious  for  having  quite  enough  of  it  in 
relation  to  his  own  country,  "  we  trust  England  is  not  less 
happy  in  owning  us  her  child." 

"  That  is,"  said  the  knighted  Judge,  catching  at  the  first 
part  of  my  remark,  "  when  we  go  back  to  the  age  of 
Milton  or  Addison,  we  have  the  same  progenitors." 

And  what  American  of  English  descent  but  cherishes 
with  laudable  consideration  the  knowledge  that  his  fathers 
were  of  a  nation  that  has  so  many  names  justly  famed 
and  loved,  as  they  have  been  chronicled  in  the  rolls  which 
narrate  their  glory  in  action,  their  attainments  in  letters, 
and  their  general  excellence,  goodness,  and  piety  of  heart? 

And  here,  too,  was  Sir  John  Kean.  And  who  was  Sir 
John  Kean  ?  He  was  an  English  officer  in  red  regimen- 
tals, who  entered  the  room  with  a  bow,  and  a  smile,  and 
a  bend,  and  a  nonchalance,  speaking  to  one  and  to  another 
as  he  advanced  to  make  his  compliments  to  Mrs.  F. ;  all 
which  he  did  as  one  would  do  who  knows  that  he  is  among 
his  own  acquaintances,  and  that  his  acquaintances  know 
that  his  position  is  one  that  enables  him  to  smile  and  no- 
tice those  he  passes  without  compromiting  his  dignity  of 
station ;  and  who  knows  himself  that  his  rank  gives  him 
the  precedence,  and  the  privilege,  as  its  legitimate  conse- 
quence, of  acting  just  as  he  chooses,  while  he  keeps  within 
the  bounds  of  politeness.  But  who  was  Sir  John  Kean  ? 
A  man  who  can  enjoy  a  joke,  even  at  his  own  expense,  and 
can  acknowledge  that  he  has  been  most  shockingly  whipped, 
and  that  it  was  at  the  battle  of  New-Orleans  !  Sir  John 
was  one  of  the  principal  three  English  officers  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  the  8th  of  January,  and  on  him  devolved 
the  command  when  Packenham  and  Gibbs  fell.  He  led 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  213 

off  the  British  forces  from  the  deadly  field.  "Yes," 
said  the  good-humored  Sir  John,  "we  were  whipped, 
most  thoroughly  whipped,  by  the  Americans."  Noble 
confession,  Sir  John.  It  does  thee  no  discredit,  nor  others, 
but  honor,  to  acknowledge  the  truth,  though  the  action, 
involved  in  that  truth,  in  the  ever-varying  chances  of 
war,  contributes  nothing  to  the  well-known  and  well- 
earned  glory  of  the  arms  of  the  British  nation. 

The  company  gazed  at  each  other,  and  said  what  they 
chose  to  anybody  they  knew,  for  a  half-hour ;  when  they 
adjourned  to  the  dining-hall  below. 

The  Governor's  band  gave  forth  the  rich  strains  of  its 
music  to  regale  the  feasters,  who  had  served  before  them 
the  variety  and  abundance  of  several  courses,  and  some 
Indian  fruits  which  I  had  not  before  seen. 

The  gentlemen  were  not  long  after  the  ladies  in  their 
adjournment  from  the  table  to  the  rooms  above.  And  the 
hours  passed  rapidly  into  the  middle-watch  of  the  night, 
when  the  company  left  the  palace. 

A  polite  note  from  his  Lordship  the  Bishop,  who,  with 
a  part  of  his  family,  had  delayed  his  departure  into  the 
interior  for  a  day  or  two,  had  early  in  the  morning  con- 
veyed to  me  an  invitation  to  accompany  him,  from  the 
Governor's,  to  spend  the  night  and  the  succeeding  day 
With  himself  and  his  family.  I  therefore  paused,  until  the 
spacious  halls  were  vacated  by  all,  save  the  Governor's 
and  the  Bishop's  families.  Sir  John  A.  also  delayed.  It 
had  been  proposed  by  his  Excellency,  that  family  prayers 
should  be  attended,  before  the  Bishop  departed.  It  was 
indeed  to  me  an  acceptable  termination  of  a  dignified  and 
social  entertainment,  where  had  been  gathered  the  prin- 
cipal dignitaries  in  the  civil  and  military  service  of  the 
Presidency,  and  from  the  first  circle  of  the  society  in 
Bombay.  It  was  now  an  hour  of  stillness.  The  rumbling 
wheels  of  the  last  carriage  had  rolled  through  the  extend- 
ed grounds.  The  brilliant  lamps  still  lighted  up  the  spa- 
cious rooms,  but  no  step  was  moving  where,  but  a  moment 
before,  the  throng  passed  in  social  vivacity  and  friendly 
cheer.  The  Governor's  lady  and  daughter,  and  their 
cousin,  Miss  Carr,  had  withdrawn  to  the  room  at  the  end 
of  the  hall,  where  the  gentlemen  soon  joined  them.  And 


214          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

was  not  this  a  worthy  example  to  our  men  in  power? 
There  had  been  nothing  in  the  entertainment  of  the  even- 
ing inconsistent  with  the  propriety  of  a  Christian  house- 
hold. And  his  Excellency's  family,  with  some  of  his 
guests,  had  now  gathered  to  make  their  acknowledgments 
to  the  High  Power  that  had  protected  and  blessed  us  for 
the  day.  It  is  religion  which  hallows  all  our  enjoyments 
— gives  additional  dignity  to  the  man  in  station — ennobles 
the  man  of  lower  degree — and  yields  consolation,  content- 
ment, and  happiness  to  all.  We  knelt  around  the  family 
altar  in  the  Government-house ;  and  when  we  had  risen 
from  our  worship,  we  made  our  adieus  to  his  Excellency 
and  his  Excellency's  most  worthy  and  interesting  family. 
A  lovely  drive  by  moonlight,  as  the  moon's  bright  beams 
gleamed  through  the  foliage  of  the  tall  cocoa-nut  trees, 
brought  us,  in  a  half-hour,  to  the  residence  of  the  Bishop. 

The  succeeding  morning  I  took  leave  of  the  Bishop's 
family,  having  engagements  for  the  remaining  part  of  the 
week,  which  would  prevent  me  from  again  calling  at  his 
residence.  The  Bishop  himself  however  designed,  with 
the  Archdeacon,  to  visit  the  Columbia  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing. On  Monday  he  would  leave  Bombay,  accompanied 
by  his  daughter. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  his  Lordship  for  the  attentive 
politeness  received  from  himself  and  family ;  and  I  regret- 
ted most  sincerely  that  our  early  sailing  would  prevent  me 
from  accepting  his  invitation  so  cordially  given,  that  I 
would  accompany  him  and  his  family  into  the  interior.  It 
would  have  gratified  my  desire  of  visiting  the  adjacent 
country,  and  given  me  the  happiness  of  attending  him  on 
his  visitation,  and  yet  to  prolong  my  acquaintance  with  his 
amiable  household.  I  know  not  that  this  page  will  ever 
greet  his  Lordship's  eye,  but  it  is  yielding  a  tribute  to  my 
own  agreeable  and  grateful  remembrances,  here  to  record 
the  pleasure  of  my  brief  but  most  acceptable  acquaintance 
with  himself  and  his  estimable  family. 

ELEPHANATA    CAVES. 

"  Elephanta — who  goes  to  Elephanta  to-day  ?"  "  I 
would  not  give  a  fig  to  see  Elephanta."  "  I  should  not 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  215 

like  to  have  been  to  Bombay,  and  have  to  answer,  on  being 
questioned,  that  I  did  not  go  to  see  Elephanta."  "  I  should 
care  but  little  not  to  have  seen  the  Elephanta  caves,  so  far 
as  the  mere  having  seen  or  not  having  seen  them  is  con- 
cerned ;  but  if,  after  leaving  Bombay,  the  thought  should 
occur  to  me  that  a  pleasure  to  be  derived  from  a  visit  to 
these  caverns  was  within  my  reach  and  I  neglected  it,  I 
should  be  unhappy.  To  save  myself  from  such  a  haunting 
thought,  I  shall  go  to  see  the  Elephanta  caves." 

Such  and  other  expressions  were  made  by  various  per- 
sons, who  felt  more  or  less  interest  in  connection  with  the 
celebrated  caverns  which  are  excavated  in  the  hills  of  the 
island  of  Elephanta.  I  had  myself  fixed  on  Friday  for 
making  an  excursion  to  the  Elephanta  caves.  I  confess 
that  my  own  curiosity  had  diminished,  in  view  of  other 
things  of  interest  which  were  inviting  me  in  the  city.  But 
two  days  remained  for  our  stay  at  Bombay.  Having 
been  detained  on  board  the  frigate  until  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  delay  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  going  alone, 
to  visit  this  curiosity,  justly  reckoned  among  the  most 
interesting  objects  that  can  attract  the  inspection  of  the 
stranger. 

The  bunder-boat  which  I  had  engaged  to  convey  me  to 
the  island,  had  a  nice  little  cabin,  large  enough  comfort- 
ably to  seat  five  or  six  persons,  and  in  which  three  might 
most  comfortably  lounge ;  while  sixteen  men  pulled  the 
boat  over  the  water.  Lingo,  who  had  often  accompanied 
me  on  my  excursions  through  the  city  and  without  it, 
was  ready  to  share  my  fortunes  to-day.  Off  we  glided, 
as  I  threw  myself  upon  a  comfortable  cushion  and  bolster; 
and  owing  to  the  few  hours  of  sleep  I  had  enjoyed  the 
preceding  night,  I  now  yielded  to  the  promptings  of  na- 
ture and  comfort  to  take  a  doze,  during  the  two  hours  I 
expected  to  be  in  reaching  the  island.  And  what  else 
should  I  have  dreamed  of  but  oiden  giants,  and  hobgoblins, 
and  screech-owls,  bats,  and  such  like  things,  which  are 
said  to  dwell  in  the  deserted  haunts  of  men  of  other  days, 
and  these  now  forsaken  recesses  of  yet  cherished  and  ven- 
erated temples  of  ancient  and  superstitious  Hindoos? 
But  ere  long  I  regained  my  waking  consciousness,  and 
amused  myself  for  the  rest  of  the  way,  with  a  story  of 


216          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  once  celebrated  Goa,  the  capital  of  the  Portuguese 
East  Indian  dominions  of  olden  and  glorious  memory, 
which  we  are  next  to  visit  on  our  leaving  Bombay. 

I  ascended  from  the  beach,  which  is  edged  with  dark 
rocks  at  the  point  of  my  landing,  along  a  path,  leading 
over  patches  of  clay  baked  to  a  brick  by  the  intense  rays 
of  the  sun.  This  path,  winding  along  the  ravine,  soon  as- 
cended the  side  of  the  hill,  covered  with  scattered  trees 
and  undergrowth  ;  and  more  than  half  way  up  the  ele- 
vation, a  diverging  path  conducted  me  to  one  of  the  lesser 
excavations  in  the  rock  of  the  mountain.  As  I  diverged 
from  the  main  track,  I  turned  an  inquiring  look  to  Lingo. 

"  Not  that  way,  master." 

"  Doubt  that,  Lingo ;  come  on,  and  we  will  see."  A 
few  paces  more  satisfied  Lingo,  that  I  had  either  awaken- 
ed a  suspicion  that  he  was  desirous  of  getting  too  rapidly 
over  the  examination  of  these  cavernous  recesses,  or  that  I 
had  fallen  upon  one  which  he  had  not  before  seen.  I  stood 
before  the  entrance  of  one  of  the  smaller  excavations. 

To  gain  a  correct  idea  of  these  artificial  excavations 
into  the  rocky  hill,  we  must  imagine  a  mountain-side, 
studded  with  cocoa-nut  trees  and  other  ever-greens,  shrubs 
and  vines,  but  thinly  wooded,  which  forms  one  side  of  a 
deep  ravine.  Half  way  up  this  hill-side  your  eye  meets 
a  stratum  of  dark  rock,  rising  abruptly  and  slightly  reced- 
ing. At  the  base  of  this  rock,  where  the  ground  assumes 
a  comparative  level,  extending  in  a  narrow  strip  in  width 
from  the  rock  to  the  edge  of  the  steeper  part  of  the  ra- 
vine, the  excavation  is  commenced.  This  is  carried  into 
the  mountain-side  for  a  few  feet,  when  a  fissure,  some  six 
or  eight  feet  deep  and  as  many  wide  is  sunk  in  the  rock, 
from  which,  as  the  level  of  the  floors  of  the  excavated 
rooms,  the  rocky  chambers  recede,  though  at  the  point 
which  I  was  at  this  moment  contemplating  they  are  but  one 
room  deep.  In  front  of  you,  when  you  have  descended 
the  fissure,  you  have  three  rooms,  about  fifteen  feet  square 
and  nine  or  ten  feet  high.  A  partition  of  solid  rock,  smoothly 
chiselled,  is  left  between  them,  separating  them  into  dis- 
tinct chambers  ;  and  the  same  is  the  case  with  the  outer 
wall,  through  which  three  entrances  are  cut,  one  for  each 
room.  The  centre  one  of  the  three  entrances  is  orna- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  217 

mented  with  various  devices,  chiselled  in  the  solid  case- 
ment and  lintel,  and  high  over  and  wide  around  the 
passage  way;  together  with  two  immense  figures,  stand- 
ing in  lone  solitude  and  silence,  as  I  now  saw  them,  like 
two  mighty  giants,  or  huge  knights  of  olden  days,  posted 
at  this  portal  of  the  entrance  of  the  sacred  room.  Within 
the  centre  room  stood  the  altar,  consisting  of  a  base  three 
or  four  feet  high  and  five  or  six  feet  square,  with  a  broken 
pillar  two  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  rounded  at  the  top, 
arid  rising  from  the  centre  of  the  base. 

There  was  a  stillness  reigning  here  which  rendered  the 
scene  imposing.  The  large  but  mutilated  figures,  and  the 
many  lesser  ones  above  and  around,  exhibiting  in  contrast 
the  huge  proportions  of  the  two  principal  statues  which 
had  remained,  in  their  speechless  and  grave  attitude,  longer 
than  tradition  tells,  contributed  (with  the  occurring  impres- 
sion on  the  mind  of  the  great  labors  that  must  have  been 
expended  here,  and  the  mystery  and  the  solemn  shade  that 
now  rests  on  all  that  connects  these  cavernous  rooms  with 
the  past)  to  render  yet  more  still  and  yet  more  sombre, 
the  silence  and  the  shadows  which  now  pervade  these  sa- 
cred and  forsaken  haunts,  as  you  stand  and  muse  on  the 
generations  and  the  superstitions  of  the  past,  and  the  Hin- 
doo in  his  darkness  and  ignorance  of  the  present. 

"  Come  down  here,  Lingo,"  I  cried  to  my  guide,  who 
was  sitting  at  the  outer  entrance  above  me,  as  I  was  about 
to  enter  the  centre  room,  containing  the  altar,  after  having 
examined  the  devices  and  figures  on  the  outer  wall, "  Come 
down,  Lingo,  and  enter  this  room  with  me." 

"  Me  no  come  there,  master." 

"  Come  down  at  once,  boy,  and  enter  with  me." 

"  Me  TIO  come,  master,"  continued  the  yet  submissive 
Gentoo,  with  a  touch  of  his  hand  to  his  forehead,  and  then, 
impressively  upon  his  breast. 

"  Why  not,  Lingo  ?" 

"  Gentoo  no  go  in  there,  master,  sargeant  tell  you  why," 
added  the  dark-featured  Hindoo,  with  his  hand  pointing 
further  on,  with  a  persuasive  look  that  I  would  go  to  the 
principal  cave. 

I  advanced  to  cross  the  threshold  of  the  entrance,  and 
was  surprised  at  the  apparent  cleanness  and  smooth  surface 

19 


218  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  the  ground  floor.  Another  step,  and  I  was  ankle-deep 
in  water  ;  and  had  not  boots  prevented,  I  should,  beyond 
a  conjecture,  have  gone  through  the  ablution  of  the  feet 
as  my  initiatory  rite  of  entering  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
Hindoo  temples,  according  to  their  many  washings  in  their 
superstitious  observances.  At  each  end  of  this  range  of 
rooms,  and  at  right  angles  with  them,  is  a  recess  with  three 
pillars,  forming  two  more  rooms  or  courts,  which,  together 
with  the  central  chambers  already  described,  constitute 
half  a  hollow  square. 

An  excavation,  quite  similar  to  that  now  described,  I 
found  adjacent  to  it,  though  upon  a  yet  larger  scale ;  and 
the  knights,  in  alto-relievo,  at  the  entrance  of  the  central 
room,  were  yet  huger  in  their  proportions,  and  the  sur- 
rounding groups  of  figures  more  numerous  and  more  dis- 
tinct. And  yet,  the  faces  of  all  the  figures  have  been 
mutilated  ;  and  in  instances,  so  entirely,  as  hardly  to  leave 
a  trace  of  many  features  of  the  face  remaining.  This  profa- 
nation of  these  Hindoo  temples  is  said  to  have  been  done 
by  the  great  guns  of  the  Portuguese,  in  that  age  of  zeal 
for  the  extension  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  and  for 
the  destruction  of  all  idols  of  every  other  system.  But 
this  big  gun  story,  I  take  it,  is  something  of  a  big  gun  it- 
self, so  far  as  the  big  guns  are  concerned.  For,  in  the 
first  place,  a  very  large  gun  could  not  conveniently  be 
transported  up  such  a  steep  acclivity.  In  the  next  place, 
it  would  be  rather  difficult,  when  the  guns  were  in  the 
caves,  so  to  elevate  them  and  with  accuracy  so  to  point 
them  as  to  take  off  so  invariably  the  noses  of  all  these 
rocky  deities — a  point  towards  which  the  mischievous  de- 
spoiler  seems  to  have  particularly  directed  his  shots.  And 
what  is  a  further  and  pretty  conclusive  consideration  on 
this  subject  is,  that  a  sledge-hammer,  in  the  hand  of  an 
athletic  man.  would  have  done  more  rapid  execution  and 
with  far  greater  convenience,  in  de-facing,  de-nosing,  de- 
cheeking,  and  de-legging  all  these  figures,  as  they  are  now 
presented  to  the  visiter,  to  awaken  his  regrets  that  greater 
taste  had  not  been  displayed  for  the  preservation  of  these 
peculiar  specimens  of  the  arts  of  an  ancient  people,  instead 
of  the  indulgence  of  an  unenlightened,  misjudged  and  su- 
perstitious zeal,  in  the  demolition  of  these  figures,  which, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  219 

unmolested  by  the  destructive  hand  of  man,  had  remained 
as  enduring  as  the  mountain  rock,  in  which,  in  relievo,  they 
have  been  chiselled. 

Lingo's  patience,  seeming  to  be  waning  to  its  lowest 
point,  although  he  sat  as  submissive  as  a  fawning  spaniel 
that  longed  to  return  home,  I  delayed  no  longer  at  these 
lesser  excavations,  and  wound  still  further  around  the  moun- 
tain to  find  the  principal  entrance  to  the  most  spacious  and 
interesting  cavern. 

I  walked  on  but  a  few  moments  more  in  this  winding 
path,  when  a  charming  view  opened  to  the  eye,  exhibiting 
in  its  beauty  the  water  scene  on  the  opposite  shore,  lying 
in  front  of  the  winding  path  of  the  island  by  which  I  had 
approached  these  mountain  temples.  There,  lay  the  lovely 
expanse,  with  green  islands  yet  beyond  it,  with  the  still 
bosom  of  the  mirroring  water,  sprinkled  with  numbers  of 
the  graceful  lateen  boats,  whose  sails,  in  the  distance,  rising 
in  their  spiral  cut,  give  them  the  appearance  of  so  many 
butterflies,  with  their  light  and  bright  wings  sailing  over 
the  waters.  And  at  the  right,  appeared  the  white  mosque 
of  the  Mohammedan  worshipper,  lying  in  picturesque  and 
beautiful  relief  against  the  green  mountain-side  of  the  op- 
posite shore. 

I  had  now  reached  a  wide  level  which  spread  out  from 
the  rising  conical  rock,  to  the  steep  of  the  hill-side.  Here 
was  the  sergeant's  house  and  the  corporal's  shantee — these 
two  personages  being  retained  at  this  point  to  prevent  the 
caverns  and  their  remaining  curiosities  from  being  further 
mutilated.  Commanding  the  view  of  this  beautiful  pros- 
pect, lies  this  little  green  level,  more  than  half  way  up  the 
mountain-side,  from  the  inner  edge  of  which  the  rock  again 
raises  its  heavy  bulwarks  in  limestone  masses.*  And  here, 
in  that  massive  rock  of  the  mountain,  coated  with  trees 
and  shrubs  above  it,  you  see  the  great  entrance  to  the  cav- 
erns of  the  mountain,  called  the  ELEPIIANTA  CAVES,  and 
which  tradition  tells,  and  which  the  books  of  the  Hindoos 
yet  preserved  narrating  the  actions  of  their  gods  declare, 

*  I  took  this  rock  to  be  limestone,  and  still  believe  it  to  be  so, 
though  a  gentleman  of  science  in  Bombay  assured  me  that  it  was 
basalt. 


220  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

to  have  been,  as  they  still  are,  the  temples  of  the  Hindoos. 
In  the  niches  of  the  walls,  and  on  the  side  ranges  of  the 
rooms  are  chiselled  the  incarnations  of  the  gods  of  the 
Hindoostanee. 

The  front  view  of  the  rock  presents  a  portal,  with  four 
pillars  and  two  side  pilasters,  supporting  a  horizontal  entab- 
lature slightly  ornamented  with  mouldings.  The  pillars 
are  fluted  and  large,  and  considered  as  capitals  of  unfin- 
ished pillars  might  be  considered  as  approximating  to  some 
beauty,  but  as  they  are,  exhibit  no  idea  of  correct  propor- 
tions, according  to  our  appreciation  of  the  perfect  models 
of  Grecian  or  Egyptian  architecture.  These  pillars  are 
cut  from  the  solid  rock,  and  are  ten  or  twelve  feet  high. 
As  the  excavation  extends  into  the  mountain,  four  ranges 
of  similar  pillars  yet  stand,  as  they  were  left,  chiselled  from 
the  solid  rock,  and  receding  in  regular  distances  and  regu- 
lar intervals  in  straight  lines  back  from  the  front  pillars. 
Two  additional  rows  correspond  with  the  pilasters  on  each 
side  of  the  portal.  When  you  have  entered  the  portal,  the 
excavated  hall  branches  off  wider  yet  to  the  right  and 
left,  giving  an  internal  room  of  spacious  dimensions.  In 
the  back  wall  fronting  the  entrance,  and  seen  between  the 
central  ranges  of  pillars  extending  from  the  portal,  is  a 
niche  excavated  in  the  rock,  its  distance  from  the  front 
being  some  sixty  or  a  hundred  feet  from  the  entrance.  In 
this  niche  is  seen  the  principal  figure,  which  attracts  the 
attention  of  the  visiter,  and  remains  there  in  its  three-faced 
form,  looking  east,  west,  and  north,  as  the  only  perfect 
statue  which  remains.  This  triad  figure  is  in  keeping,  in 
the  proportions  of  the  several  faces  ;  and  the  execution, 
though  presenting  little  to  win  our  admiration  for  the  beau- 
ty or  manliness  of  the  features,  is  deemed  to  reflect  credit 
on  the  artist.  The  heads  may  be  four  feet  in  diameter — 
the  lips  large — the  noses  well  chiselled — the  cheeks  rotund 
— the  neck  decorated  after  the  present  style  of  the  Hindoos, 
in  the  wearing  of  their  ornaments  circling  the  neck  in  a 
crescent  and  low  on  the  chest.  The  heads  are  decorated 
with  a  cap  unlike  any  I  have  seen  at  Bombay,  but  resem- 
bling others  worn  further  east,  rising  high  and  receding 
somewhat  like  the  upper  part  of  a  helmet,  and  ornamented 
with  various  devices. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          221 

It  cannot  be  interesting  to  the  reader,  to  follow  the  mi. 
nute  description  and  measurements  of  these  caverns.  The 
general  appearance  and  the  impressions  they  leave  on  the 
mind  of  the  visiter,  are  the  principal  things  to  interest  the 
reader,  in  the  absence  of  visible  inspection. 

The  excavation  here,  constituting  the  principal  room,  is 
spacious,  embracing  thirty  or  forty  pillars  in  their  regular 
ranges,  which  support  the  rocky  ceiling,  and  are  parts  of 
the  rock  left  in  excavating.  On  one  side  of  this  spacious 
hall  is  a  cubical  room,  higher  than  the  square  of  its  base ; 
which  is  also  an  appendage  of  the  solid  rock,  and  excava- 
ted, within  itself,  for  the  purpose  of  embracing  the  altar, 
corresponding  to  those  already  alluded  to.  On  the  sides 
of  each  corner  of  this  cubical  room,  an  immense  figure, 
making  eight  in  all,  is  chiselled  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in  height, 
exhibiting  an  imposing  attitude.  But  all  these  figures  are 
defective  in  the  proper  development  of  the  muscles.  The 
limbs  are  particularly  so.  The  curve  line  seems  to  exist 
only  as  encircling  the  limbs  ;  while  the  lines  from  the  knee 
to  the  foot  are  nearly  straight,  giving  to  the  limbs  the 
tameness  of  a  pipe-stem,  or  more  properly  a  regular  pyra- 
midal form,  unlike  the  varied  developments  of  the  different 
muscles  as  seen  exhibited  in  the  natural  figure  of  man  him- 
self. The  same  is  true  of  the  arms.  They  are  invariably 
cramped,  or  make  acute  angles  as  stiffly  as  the  adjustment 
of  two  straight  sticks,  intersecting  each  other,  would  do. 
The  head  and  the  chest  are  the  two  parts  of  the  figures 
best  executed,  while  the  waist  reminds  one  of  the  sole- 
leather  corsets  of  olden  days,  or  one  half  of  an  hour-glass. 
And  this  we  would  deem  surprising,  when  it  is  considered, 
that  the  human  form  is  continually  exposed  in  these  east- 
ern countries,  thus  giving  the  artist  the  opportunity  of  daily 
studying  the  muscular  action  of  the  body  and  limbs,  so 
essential  to  be  noted  and  to  be  understood  by  the  sculptor 
to  enable  him  truly  to  delineate  his  figures  according  to 
life,  in  the  different  positions  of  attitude  and  action  in  which 
he  places  them.  And  yet,  the  effect  of  the  main  figures 
of  the  principal  groups  is  striking,  and  must  have  been 
particularly  so  upon  the  minds  of  the  common  people. 
The  larger  number  of  lesser  figures  around  the  principal, 
exhibit  the  god  in  a  conspicuous  and  imposing  form,  the 

19* 


222          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

effect  being  derived  principally,  however,  from  the  idea  of 
power,  inferred  from  dimension  in  contrast.  In  the  groups 
of  figures  occupying  different  excavations  in  the  walls,  and 
describing  various  actions  of  the  gods  of  the  Hindoos, 
there  are  a  great  variety  of  heads  crowded  together,  as 
they  are  often  seen  on  Chinese  carving  in  ivory — elephants 
and  lions,  grotesque  winged  animals  and  serpents — while 
the  principal  one  or  more  large  figures  are  thus  shown  off 
in  bold  relief ;  and  in  all  these  representations,  the  strictest 
modesty  is  preserved,  though  the  figures  are  slightly 
dressed,  after  the  manner  of  most  of  the  native  Hindoos. 

There  is  one  figure  cut  in  a  recess  on  the  inner  wall, 
which  attracts  the  interest  of  the  visiter,  and  is  on  the 
right  of  the  triad,  or  three-faced  god,  and  by  some  called 
the  Amazon,  though  the  peculiarity  of  the  figure  emblems 
forth  a  very  different  legend  of  one  of  the  Hindoo  gods. 
The  figure  is  nearly  perfect,  more  so  than  any  other  besides 
the  triad.  Yet  the  same  objection  applies  to  this  figure, 
tall  in  its  height,  which  I  have  stated  of  the  others,  though 
some  speak  of  it  as  a  creditable  specimen  of  sculpture  ; 
and  probably  it  is  the  best,  with  the  exception  of  the  three 
faced  Vishna  or  Sciva,  which  decorates  the  rocky  walls 
of  this  spacious  excavation.  Indeed,  there  is  in  all  the 
figures,  without  an  exception,  the  absence  of  all  anatomical 
correctness.  Straight  lines  prevail,  and  the  limbs  are  like 
tapering  poles,  and  the  faces  remind  one  of  the  rude  cuts 
seen  on  the  old  English  grave-stones  of  the  17th  century, 
with  cherub  wings  attached  to  their  young  and  rounded 
cheeks,  though  here,  where  wings  are  introduced,  they  are 
the  more  tasteful,  being  of  the  sylph-like  form. 

From  this  principal  room,  a  passage  on  the  left  as  you 
advance,  extends  to  a  yet  more  interior  excavation,  with 
like  groups  of  figures  studding  the  excavated  niches  in  the 
inner  walls.  And  here  is  an  inner  saloon,  longer  than 
wide,  with  pillars  in  front,  and  the  wall  constituting  the 
back  part  of  it  is  studded  with  a  range  of  statues.  These 
extend  quite  the  whole  length  of  the  wall  of  this  apart- 
ment, in  alto-relievo,  on  the  wall,  exhibiting  a  variety  of 
male  and  female  figures,  men,  women,  mothers  writh  chil- 
dren in  their  arms,  in  different  attitudes,  and  all  constitu- 
ting a  row  of  statues  which  must  have  been  imposing 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  223 

when  in  their  perfect  state.  But  now  there  is  scarcely  a 
statue  of  the  whole  number  undefaced. 

On  my  entering  a  small  cubical  room  containing  the 
altar,  in  this  range  of  the  excavated  rooms,  the  soldier,  a 
native  Hindoo,  who  was  now  accompanying  me,  signified, 
with  considerable  emphasis,  that  it  was  not  allowable  for 
me  to  enter  the  room  of  the  altar.  He  had  not  marked 
me  entering  the  other,  and  now  remonstrated  at  my  at- 
tempt to  enter  this — "  Gentoo  might  go  in — but  no  English 
go — no  American  go."  "  Nonsense,  Sepoy,"  I  said  to 
him,  and  mounted  the  altar,  which  I  conclude,  from  its 
being  more  polished  than  the  others,  still  serves  as  the 
altar  where  the  Hindoos  offer  their  gifts  when  they  as- 
semble here,  as  they  still  do  on  holidays,  to  worship 
agreeably  to  their  own  rites.  "  Nonsense,"  I  again  added, 
still  further  to  try  the  sincerity  of  the  sentry.  "  Make  any 
resistance  and  1  take  you,  in  good  haste,  to  the  hearing 
of  the  Governor." 

"Against  order,  master,"  added  the  doubtful  soldier, 
with  his  present  hand  to  his  forehead — "  no  order  to  let 
English  enter.  Hindoo  only  enter." 

"  Well,  Sepoy,  do  you  not  know  that  I  have  become  a 
Gentoo  since  I  reached  Bombay — go  to  Gentoo  church — 
have  a  mark  put  on  my  forehead  ?  See,  Sepoy,  see  you 
it  not  ?"  I  added,  touching  my  finger  to  my  forehead  be- 
tween the  eyes. 

Lingo  and  the  Sepoy  both  laughed  roundly,  and  made 
no  more  opposition  to  my  entering  the  consecrated  room 
of  the  altar,  but  their  incredulity  was  observable  enough, 
and  their  horror  of  my  polluting  their  temple  I  took  to  be 
more  a  matter  of  affectation  than  otherwise. 

But  what  was  the  propelling  motive  which  led  the 
enthusiast,  or  devotee,  or  prince,  or  potentate,  or  genius, 
struggling  in  the  infancy  of  the  arts,  to  give  development 
and  immortality  to  his  swelling  conceptions,  in  the  execu- 
tion of  these  mysterious,  works,  of  which  no  record  now 
retains  the  traces  of  their  origin,  or  the  progress  and  the 
completion  of  these  stupendous  works — stupendous,  at 
least,  when  associated  with  the  age  in  which  they  must 
have  been  executed?  And  even  now,  they  are  gazed 
upon  as  astonishing  demonstration  of  the  labors  of  the  past. 


224          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Nothing  that  narrates  of  them  is  found — nothing  is  known. 
A  shade,  dark  as  the  stillness  was  deep,  which  pervaded 
the  caverns  at  that  moment  as  I  mused  on  the  revolutions 
of  empires,  religions,  and  even  the  mountain-rock,  now 
rests  over  the  story  of  their  past ;  while  at  the  same  time 
here  live,  in  visible  characters,  the  rocky  records  which 
chronicle,  and  which  shall  chronicle  for  ages  to  come,  the 
religions,  the  habits,  and  the  manners  of  the  Hindoo  of 
other  times.  How  profound  is  ignorance !  How  fleet 
the  years  of  man  !  How  unbecoming  is  pride  in  a  mortal ! 
How  low  may  superstition  bring  him  in  the  scale  of  intel- 
lect !  How  sublime  and  elevated  his  nature,  when  fixed 
on  divine  things  !  How  vast  his  capacities,  when  direct- 
ed by  the  beams  of  intellect  and  the  elevating  influences 
of  the  true  system  of  worship  recorded  for  the  otherwise 
benighted  spirit,  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ! 

I  returned  to  the  boat,  and  our  two  lateen  sails  soon 
bore  us  on  to  the  good  frigate  Columbia — my  home  on  the 
deep-— whose  deck  one  is  ever  willing  to  reach,  after  a  day 
of  toil  on  duty  or  on  pleasure ;  and  whether  his  rambles 
have  been  accompanied  with  happiness  or  disappointment. 
To-day,  the  field  of  that  ramble  was  curious,  unique,  and 
deeply  interesting.  None  will  regret  the  effort  which  it 
may  cost  to  accomplish  a  visit  to  the  Elephanta  caves — 
and  none,  having  examined  it  in  connection  with  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Hindoo,  will  forget  their  temples  in  these  moun- 
tain rocks. 


VISIT    TO    DR.    WILSON    AND    FAMILY. 

On  the  evening  of  the  tenth  I  visited  at  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Wilson's,  agreeably  to  an  invitation  to  dine  with  him,  with 
the  expectation  of  meeting  other  religious  persons  whom 
the  Dr.  had  politely  said  he  would  invite  to  meet  me.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Nesbit,  and  Dr.  Smitten,  a  benevolent  gentleman 
who  has  long  been  in  India,  were  there ;  and  the  two 
Misses  Baynes,  the  sisters-in-law  of  Dr.  W. 

Dr.  Wilson  is  a  gentleman  of  attainment  in  letters,  and 
his  conversation  is  greatly  interesting  in  connection  with 
the  Hindoo  religion — their  ceremonies,  their  habits,  their 
manners,  and  incidents  in  his  own  experience  among  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  225 

natives.  His  courteous  attentions  will  be  remembered 
with  very  acceptable  associations,  in  connection  with 
the  pleasure  received  in  my  interview  with  himself  and 
family. 

Dr.  W.  is  at  the  head  of  the  Literary  Asiatic  Society 
of  Bombay ;  and,  with  his  modesty  of  character,  he  exem- 
plifies the  truth  of  the  Scripture,  that  he  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  be  exalted.  He  excels  as  a  linguist,  possess- 
ing great  natural  readiness  in  the  acquisition  of  a  new 
tongue,  already  understanding  many  of  the  languages  of 
the  East,  Arabic,  Sanscrit,  Hindoostanee,  etc.  etc.,  and  has 
written  with  effect  in  several  of  them  against  the  systems 
of  the  Mohammedans,  Hindoos,  and  the  Parsees. 

In  the  evening  we  took  a  walk  through  one  of  the 
streets,  near  Dr.  VWs  residence,  in  which  almost  every 
house  was  a  temple,  or  contained  a  Hindoo  god.  We 
saw  enough  to  interest,  to  pity,  to  grieve  us,  and  to  dis- 
gust in  the  worshippers,  who  entered  their  temples  and 
prostrated  themselves  before  their  wooden  deities,  whose 
forms  were  hideous  for  their  shapes  and  paints.  One  of 
these  gods,  in  an  apparently  greatly  frequented  temple, 
contained  three  heads,  resembling  the  swine's  more  than 
aught  else,  though  called  the  monkey,  with  its  three-formed 
shape,  painted  red,  with  glaring  white  and  black  eyes. 
Before  this  ill-formed  block  of  wood  numbers  prostrated 
themselves  and  worshipped — asking  their  god  for  what- 
ever might  be  the  object  of  their  particular  desire,  and  ten- 
dering to  him  offerings  of  rice,  or  cocoa-nuts,  or  money — 
at  times  beseeching  his  assistance,  or  at  others  threatening 
the  painted  deity,  that  if  the  request  be  not  granted  his 
godship  would  get  no  more  cocoa-nuts.  This  seerns  a  pe- 
culiar kind  of  worship,  but  the  Hindoos  both  threaten  and 
entreat,  in  their  approaches  to  their  gods. 

We  wandered  by  some  thirty  or  forty  and  more  of  these 
idol-houses,  to  examine  their  many  and  various  appear- 
ances. The  houses  differed  not  much  from  the  indifferent 
residences  of  the  lower  classes  in  the  bazaar  part  of  the 
town.  Others  presented  more  respectable  piles  of  build- 
ings ;  and  in  a  few  instances  the  temples  were  embraced 
within  a  court  of  considerable  spaciousness. 


226 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


HINDOO    DEVOTEE. 


At  length  we  came  to  the  tent  of  a  noted  devotee,  who 
has  made  himself  conspicuous  as  a  sacred  character  for 
his  abstinence,  mortification,  and  by  the  peculiarity  of  the 
form  of  his  penance.  He  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  small 
flower-pot,  containing  a  rose-shrub,  with  its  branches  pro- 
tected by  a  light  frame-work.  The  finger  nails  of  the 
hand,  which  embraces  the  flower-pot,  wind  in  their  un- 
couth and  spiral  shape,  six  or  eight  inches  in  length. 
They  say  he  has  held  this  flower-pot  in  the  position 
he  now  carries  it  for  thirty  years.  The  fleshy  part  of 
his  fingers,  under  his  nail,  has  also  oddly  elongated  itself. 
Whether  he  has  thus  preserved  this  flower-pot  this  length 
of  time  or  not  in  this  position,  he  evidently  has  well  played 
his  part,  as  the  result  of  this  action,  deemed  self-mortifica- 
tion and  penance,  has  been  to  accumulate  from  the  multi- 
tude who  visit  him,  some  20,000  rupees,  equivalent  to  more 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  227 

than  nine  thousand  dollars,  a  part  of  which  he  is  now  de- 
voting for  the  establishment  of  an  institution,  in  which 
shall  be  inculcated  the  sentiment  and  the  habit  of  one's 
personal  consecration  to  some  act  of  similar  devotion. 
This  singular  personage  is  now,  from  his  appearance,  be- 
tween the  age  of  fifty  and  sixty  years,  and  is  not  deficient 
in  sprightliness  and  shrewdness.  "  I'll  get  no  money  to- 
night," he  said  to  Dr.  W.  "  You  are  the  enemy  of  all  re- 
ligions here,  and  persuade  people  from  giving  pice  to  the 
devotees." 

The  old  man  was  nearly  naked,  with  his  white  beard 
brushed  up  to  the  cheek,  and  smeared  over  with  white- 
wash, or  something  like  it,  which  covered  his  whole  face 
and  brow  and  most  of  his  exposed  body ;  with  a  tint  of 
red-like  blood  on  the  brow  and  breast,  contrasting  with  this 
wash  of  white  overlaying  his  darker  skin.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  this  old  devotee's  arm,  which  supports  the 
flower-pot,  has  become  emaciated.  But  it  is  not  more  so 
than  the  other.  The  muscles  of  each  were  alike,  and  so 
appeared,  when  the  devotee,  at  my  request,  put  his  right 
arm  in  the  same  attitude  as  the  left  which  supported  the 
flower-pot.  He  seemed  not  unpleased  by  our  call ;  and 
as  we  left,  without  marking  that  my  friend  Dr.  W.  saw 
the  action,  I  dropped  a  piece  of  silver  into  the  old  man's 
hand,  which  the  next  moment  I  regretted,  although  I  had 
done  it  as  I  would  have  given  pence  to  a  conjuror  for 
amusing  me  with  tricks  of  his  art  and  enchantments  of 
his  snakes  ;  or  to  the  keeper  of  a  menagerie  of  odd  and 
curious  beasts  of  the  country.  Should  Dr.  W.'s  course 
be  pursued  by  all  who  visit  this  long-nailed  Gentoo,  he 
would  soon  be  seen  making  an  effort  to  earn  his  rice  and 
curry  in  some  more  industrious  manner,  and  the  leisure- 
penance  of  the  devotee  would  be  changed  for  the  reality 
of  self-denial,  which  the  laborious  poor  man  is  often  called 
on  to  experience  in  the  honorable  effort  to  give  support 
and  comfort,  to  his  household. 

Returning  late  to  the  ship,  I  found  the  sea  rolling  higher 
than  is  usual,  or  than  I  had  before  seen  it,  in  the  harbor. 
The  oarsmen  pulled  to  the  boatman's  cheerily  tune  ;  and 
ere  long  the  sail  was  set,  when  our  boat  leaped  from  wave 
to  wave  as  she  glided  over  the  water,  and  dashed  the 


228  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

spray  before  her  in  the  dark  night  like  a  spit-fire,  spread- 
ing the  phosphorescent  light  every  way  around  her. 

I  have  made  my  last  visit  on  shore,  and  in  the  morning 
our  ship  stands  yet  again  on  her  eastern  course.  And 
there  are  more  than  one  to  whom  I  may  repeat  with  most 
acceptable  memories,  as  I  leave  the  strange,  the  curious, 
and  the  interesting  city  of  Bombay : 

"  Farewell,  but  whenever  you  welcome  the  hour, 
Which  awakes  the  sweet  night-song  soft  in  your  bower, 
Then  think  of  the  friend  who  once  welcomed  it  too, 
And  forgot  his  own  griefs  to  be  happy  with  you. 
His  griefs  may  return,  not  a  hope  may  remain 
Of  the  few  that  have  lightened  his  pathway  of  pain, 
But  he  ne'er  will  forget  the  short  vision  that  threw 
Its  enchantment  around  him  while  lingering  with  you." 


SECTION    IX. 

GO  A. 

Goa.  Row  up  the  river  to  the  site  of  old  Goa,  now  the  city  only  of 
churches  and  convents,  and  once  the  seat  of  the  Inquisition  in  the  East. 
Returning,  wind  and  tide  ahead.  Passage  through  the  breakers.  Unable 
to  reach  the  frigate.  The  ships  stand  out  to  sea.  Sleep  at  the  fort. 
The  next  morning  the  ships  stand  in,  and  the  author  regains  the  frigate. 

WE  came  to  anchor  in  Goa  Roads  on  the  fourteenth 
of  November.  The  basin  of  water  in  which  we  are  now 
lying  indents  a  very  picturesque  shore,  broken  into  ranges 
of  table-land  which  stretches  along  the  shore,  and  high 
ranges,  more  elevated,  rising  in  double  tier  of  mountains, 
in  the  blue  distance  of  the  interior. 

This  morning,  succeeding  the  evening  of  our  arrival, 
I  jumped  into  a  shore-boat,  with  the  understanding  that 
the  ship  would  go  to  sea  in  the  evening,  and  with  the 
purpose  of  getting  a  larger  boat  on  my  reaching  the 
shore,  to  take  me  to  Goa,  some  six  miles  and  more  distant. 
Should  I  happen  to  be  left  in  these  regions,  why,  the  only 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  229 

alternative  will  be,  to  go  over  land  to  Madras,  to  regain 
the  ship  at  Colombo,  or  to  make  the  best  of  my  way  back 
again  to  the  United  States  of  America.  However,  it 
would  be 

"  Pitiful,  wondrous  pitiful," 

to  come  into  these  Roads,  with  all  the  olden  associations 
connected  with  this  ancient  capital  of  all  the  Portuguese 
Indian  possessions,  and  not  to  look  at  the  far-famed  city 
of  Goa,  now  in  its  ruins,  and  so  memorable  for  its  former 
magnificence  and  ecclesiastical  associations. 

I  had  marked  a  picturesque  building  before  I  left  the 
ship,  situated  on  one  of  the  prominent  elevations,  near  the 
landing-place  at  the  fort ;  and  receiving  the  courteous 
salutation  of  the  Captain  of  the  fortress  as  I  passed  through 
it,  I  sought  this  building  on  the  heights  by  a  path  which 
had  been  pointed  out  to  me  as  leading  to  the  residence 
chapel  of  the  Padre,  while  my  boat  was  ordered  round 
to  another  point  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island  to  wait 
for  me.  But  when  I  had  reached  this  pile  of  buildings  on 
the  heights,  I  found  it  like  most  of  the  olden  Portuguese 
ancient  edifices,  more  beautiful  in  the  distance  than  on 
near  inspection.  The  Catholics  are  tasteful  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  locations  for  their  public  edifices ;  and  the 
chapel,  the  cathedral,  the  monastery,  are  mostly  found  to 
occupy  the  most  conspicuous  points  of  high  ground  wher- 
ever their  religion  prevails,  and  the  effect  of  the  tout  en- 
semble of  their  religious  buildings,  at  a  distance,  is  almost 
invariably  fine  and  imposing. 

The  view  from  this  church  of  the  mount  was  very  fine, 
and  no  little  interest  was  given  to  the  scene  of  the  water 
expanse  which  lay  before  the  eye,  by  being  varied  with 
our  own  two  men-of-war,  riding  on  the  bosom  of  this 
beautiful  indentation  of  the  sea.  The  Padres  whom  I 
met  here,  had  nothing  about  them  which  was  attracting. 
After  a  rapid  view  of  the- chapel,  the  principal  room  within 
which  contained  a  saint  with  a  small  ship  poised  in  his 
hand,  I  bid  the  brotherhood  adieu  and  descended  to  the 
boat,  which  I  found  waiting  for  me  as  directed — the  pea- 
santry at  the  foot  of  the  hill  showing  me  courtesy  and 
kindness  as  I  passed  their  tents. 

20 


230  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

We  soon  crossed  over  to  Pangim,  or  New  Goa,  where 
I  again  changed  my  boat  for  one  still  larger,  with  ten 
oarsmen,  that  I  might  more  certainly  accomplish  my  ex- 
cursion and  return  in  time  for  the  sailing  of  the  ship. 
Comfortably  seated  in  the  cabin  of  this  boat,  and  gliding 
to  the  dip  of  ten  oars  up  the  stream,  I  am  now  penning 
this  nota  bene  of  the  way  to  the  old  city,  some  four  miles 
further  up  the  stream,  which  runs  between  the  island  of 
St.  Pedro  and  the  opposite  shore.  Church  edifices.  Portu- 
guese, French,  and  Mohammedan  mosques,  are  frequently 
occurring  on  either  side,  in  agreeable  relief  of  white  plas- 
tered Avails  and  the  groves  of  cocoa-nut  and  banana-trees, 
with  their  peculiar  and  characteristic  tops. 

THE    RUINS    OF    GOA. 

After  a  pull  for  a  couple  of  hours,  we  reached  the  De- 
serted City — once  the  proud,  the  lofty,  the  superstitious, 
and  the  overbearing  city  of  Goa.  It  still  stands  a  beacon 
of  what  once  was ;  but  it  is  like  the  hali  deserted  of  its 
feasters,  when  the  revellers  have  gone ;  while  the  still- 
ness of  the  present  contrasts,  in  sad  eloquence,  with  the 
hour  of  carousal.  I  walked  through  the  streets  overgrown 
with  grass,  with  reflections  which  I  could  have  cherished 
nowhere  else.  Scarcely  a  being  was  to  be  seen  moving 
throughout  the  city.  The  olden  churches,  the  spacious 
and  massive  cathedral,  the  private  chapels,  and  the  nunne- 
ries, the  crumbling  walls,  and  the  cocoa-nut  groves,  and 
the  banana-trees,  were  seen  in  their  profound  solitude, 
where  once  was  bustle,  and  where  the  mighty  and  the 
proudest  moved  forth  in  state  and  affluence ;  and  where 
the  mighty  Inquisition  ruled  in  its  terror  and  sublimity. 
A  cross  on  its  base  of  rock,  composed,  itself,  of  imperish- 
able material,  was  standing  at  the  corner  of  almost  every 
street,  telling  the  universality  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. 
The  walls  lining  each  side  of  the  streets  were  generally 
falling,  exposing  the  areas  that  once  composed  the  gar- 
dens and  the  sites  of  private  mansions  and  palaces,  but 
where  now  scarcely  a  private  residence  can  be  found  or 
bamboo  hut  can  be  seen ;  while  the  rank  and  luxurious 
vegetation  mellows  all  this  ruin  and  decay,  of  fallen  walls, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  231 

and  terraced  mounds,  and  filling  avenue,  and  broken  pas- 
sage, in  embowering  green  of  vine,  or  shrub,  or  thatching 
tree.  Here  is  indeed  a  field  for  the  imaginative  to  wander 
in.  Here  are  all  the  elements  of  romance,  of  poetry,  for 
the  tragic  and  the  lyric  muse.  Goa  !  how  art  thou  fallen ! 
The  huge  walls  of  thy  spacious  churches,  and  cathedral, 
and  monastery  yet  stand,  while  the  dust  is  gathered  on 
their  altars,  and  the  gold  of  their  candlesticks  is  dimmed, 
and  the  images  that  once  moved  in  procession  and  parade 
in  holiday  scenes,  are  veiled  and  crowded,  in  their  tar- 
nished gilding,  into  the  dark  recesses  of  the  interior  rooms. 
Ye  ghosts  of  departed  saints,  said  yet  to  walk  on  your 
rounds  through  the  silent  recesses  of  these  almost  deserted 
temples,  tell  us,  what  is  the  blight  which  has  come  over 
all,  that  now,  only  the  stately  pile  of  cathedral,  and  chapel, 
and  nunnery,  in  decay  and  dust,  mark  a  solemn  city  of 
churches,  where  once  stood  the  ancient,  the  famed,  and 
the  prosperous  Goa  of  the  East  ?  And  why,  all  around 
you  in  the  same  eastern  seas,  are  another  people,  with  a 
different  but  Christian  creed,  springing  up  in  successful 
prosperity  and  irresistible  prowess?  Must  the  religion  of 
the  Catholics  for  ever  leave  blighted,  whatever  it  touches? 

I  walked  through  the  cathedral,  an  immense  pile  of 
buildings,  which  once  must  have  been  imposing.  The 
entrance  door  opened  into  a  passage-way  lined  on  one 
side  with  paintings  of  a  large  and  corresponding  size,  of 
inferior  merit  as  to  their  execution,  while  the  scenes  were 
often  such  as  to  produce  a  great  effect.  One  represented 
Saint  Augustine,  suspended  with  his  head  downwards. 
Another,  the  devil  in  interview  with  a  priest;  and 
Saint  Augustine  seeing  the  visible  Christ,  while  partaking 
of  the  eucharist.  This  passage  communicated  with  the 
door,  which  opened  into  the  spacious  chapel,  with  its  lofty 
ceiling.  I  passed  rapidly  through  the  different  rooms, 
some  containing  various  images  of  large  sizes  and  of  les- 
ser dimensions — the  twelve  apostles  and  various  saints, 
and  the  Saviour  represented  in  different  scenes ; — one 
with  the  thorns  upon  his  brow,  the  image  being  larger 
than  life ;  and  others,  in  other  scenes  of  corresponding 
proportions. 

From  the  cathedral  I  went  to  a  nunnery.     A  cup  of  tea 


I 


232  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

was  handed  to  me  by  the  Lady  Abbess,  from  whom  I 
gained  some  little  things,  to  be  retained  as  mementoes  of 
my  visit.  I  wandered,  at  random,  into  another  nunnery, 
and  other  churches,  but,  in  haste  to  return,  I  made  my 
way  back  from  the  heights  on  which  these  buildings  are 
mostly  situated,  covering  grounds,  which  with  their  adjacent 
lots  must  have  been  beautiful  and  valuable,  almost  beyond 
account,  but  now  neglected,  with  the  walls  of  the  sur- 
rounding areas  fallen  or  falling,  and  overgrown,  exhibiting 
long  ranges  of  neglected  fields  and  gardens  in  ruins. 

RETURN    TO    THE    FRIGATE. 

On  reaching  the  boat,  to  my  no  small  surprise  and  no 
very  inconsiderable  alarm,  I  found  that  the  wind  and  the 
tide  had  both  changed  against  us,  while  I  had  been  wan- 
dering through  the  solitary  streets  and  stately  piles  of 
churches  and  nunneries  of  Goa.  The  boats  were  now 
streaming  up  the  favoring  current,  with  their  canvass 
spread  to  a  fair  and  strong  breeze,  while  I  had  been  cal- 
culating upon  both  to  secure  my  return  to  the  frigate  by 
four  o'clock.  No  time  now  could  be  lost,  it  being  already 
near  three  o'clock.  I  passed  into  the  boat,  and  directed  the 
ten  oarsmen  to  put  forth  their  strength.  They  did  well. 
Our  boat  dashed  back  to  Pangim,  or  lower  Goa,  from 
which  our  ships  were  lying  some  four  or  five  miles — 
the  sea  setting  in  with  increased  power,  and  the  opposing 
wind  strengthening  every  moment.  We  paused  only  for 
the  men  to  take  a  draught  of  water,  when  they  again 
started  for  the  frigate.  We  had  passed  the  inner  fort  of 
the  Portuguese,  but  every  moment  was  convincing  us 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  accomplish  our  purpose 
against  the  opposing  wind  and  tide.  But  the  two  ships 
still  lingered  in  the  offing,  the  John  Adams  apparently 
just  standing  out,  while  the  Columbia  had  shaken  out  her 
topsails,  and  was  lying  lazily  in  the  wind.  The  men  were 
encouraged  to  pull  to  their  utmost,  but  the  ground-roll  of 
the  sea  was  pitching  in,  and  we  had  now  reached  a  posi- 
tion where  the  breakers  combed  high  and  fearfully.  The 
men,  however,  were  true  to  their  oars.  As  the  high  wave 
came  on  with  its  curved  edge  higher  than  our  boat,  fear- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  233 

fully  threatening  to  flood  it,  the  oarsmen  for  a  moment 
would  rest  on  their  poles,  and  as  the  breaker  struck  the 
boat  they  broke  the  profound  silence  of  the  preceding  in- 
stant by  their  own  peculiar  prayer,  as  they  ejaculated  in 
their  own  tongue,  "Jesu  Christe  !"  when  again  they  dipped 
their  oars  with  their  greatest  effort,  to  send  the  boat  still 
further  ahead,  only  to  meet  another  mountain-sheet  with 
its  distinctly  denned  curl,  inclining  towards  us.  As  the 
second  breaker  struck  us,  it  was  waited  in  silence,  but  with 
the  blow  of  the  wave,  the  ten  oarsmen,  at  the  slight  indication 
of  the  steersman,  again  sent  forth,  in  their  suppressed  and 
reverential  tone,  "  O  Jesu  Christe  !"  I  thought  it  would 
be  impossible  to  drive  the  boat  through  these  foaming 
breakers,  which  came  down  against  us  in  succession  with 
their  almost  perpendicular  fronts.  But  so  long  as  I  saw 
the  features  of  the  steersman,  while  they  were  profoundly 
solemn,  quaked  not,  I  encouraged  the  men  with  the  ex- 
citing words  of  "  Cheerily  O,  cheerily  all !"  which  they 
caught  with  spirit,  as  I  applied  my  own  hands  to  the  oar 
guided  by  the  nearest  man.  The  boat  at  length  was 
forced  through  seven  or  eight  of  these  tremendous  and 
fearfully  dangerous  rolls  of  the  sea,  which  would  instantly 
have  swamped  us,  had  the  prow  of  the  boat  not  been 
kept  perpendicularly  to  the  line  of  the  waves,  as  they 
came  successively,  at  this  point  of  the  way,  some  fifty 
rods  and  more  apart  from  each  other.  We  were  now 
beyond  these  breaking  surges,  our  boat  having  taken  in  a 
considerable  quantity  of  water,  sweeping  from  the  bows 
nearly  to  the  stern  and  entirely  drenching  the  men.  But 
the  wind  fell  not  and  the  tide  seemed  still  stronger,  while 
we  continued  to  pull  out  as  we  saw  the  Columbia  still 
lingering,  with  her  anchors  evidently  weighed,  and,  as  I 
concluded,  only  waiting  for  myself.  But  I  was  doubtful 
whether,  in  her  far-out  position,  she  yet  saw  me,  although 
my  boat  was  a  large  one.  Yet  at  this  moment  she  run  up 
her  gib,  and  seemed  to  ware  as  if  she  were  standing  in 
for  the  boat.  But  with  the  strong  breeze  blowing  directly 
on  this  iron-bound  shore,  at  this  late  hour,  I  knew  that 
she  could  not,  with  propriety,  venture  much  further  or 
delay  much  longer.  The  sun  was  fast  declining,  as  our 
boat  seemed  only  inch  by  inch  to  gain  her  distance  out- 

20* 


234          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ward ;  when,  ere  long,  the  sun  fell  beneath  the  distant 
rim  of  the  ocean,  with  the  Columbia  directly  in  its  wake, 
which  longer  and  more  distinctly  preserved  the  frigate  in 
our  view.  I  had  spread  my  handkerchief  above  the  poop 
of  the  boat  with  the  hope  that  it  might  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  quarter-master,  who  is  always  keeping  a  look- 
out with  his  glass ;  and  at  the  time  the  ship  seemed  to 
veer,  I  supposed  that  I  was  seen.  Bat  as  the  red  bank 
of  a  glorious  sunset  began  to  die  away  into  the  dun  of  the 
palest  twilight,  the  distant  ship  also  began  to  fade,  and  at 
length,  as  she  lined  herself  on  the  horizon,  I  could  plainly 
see  that  she  was  standing  out  to  sea,  with  evident  pro- 
priety of  not  lingering  longer  so  near  the  shore  for  the 
night.  In  a  short  time,  in  the  increasing  darkness,  the 
ship  was  entirely  lost,  and  the  boatmen,  already  exhaust- 
ed, were  directed  to  put  about  and  stand  in  for  the  shore. 
The  only  hope  that  now  remained,  was,  that  Commo- 
dore Read,  although  he  had  expressed  himself  to  me  with 
more  than  his  usual  earnestness  about  sailing  during  the 
evening,  would  stand  off  during  the  night  and  put  hack 
again  in  the  morning,  and  take  me  up,  as  I  then  would 
be  able  to  stand  out  with  the  land  breeze  and  a  smooth 
sea.  But  should  he  proceed  directly  on  his  course  to 
Colombo,  as  the  John  Adams  seemed  to  have  done,  my 
situation  might  become  very  peculiar,  at  least  for  myself. 
I  had  taken  but  twenty  dollars  in  my  purse  for  the  day's 
excursion.  As  I  had  gone  hy  myself,  however,  I  took  a 
sword  in  my  hand,  as  a  walking  stick,  and  possessed  a 
watch  of  some  value.  At  the  worst,  I  concluded  I  could 
manage,  with  these,  comfortably  to  reach  Bombay,  where 
I  had  no  apprehension  but  that  I  could  get  any  amount 
of  funds  I  might  desire,  and  letters  of  credit  to  meet  my 
wants,  whether  I  should  make  my  way  back  to  the 
United  States  through  the  Red  Sea,  the  Isthmus  of  Suez, 
the  Mediterranean,  France  and  England,  completing  a 
desirable  tour ;  or,  if  opportunity  should  present  from 
Bombay,  to  take  passage  to  Macao,  and  rejoin  the  ship 
at  Canton,  where  I  should  probably  anticipate  her  arrival, 
as  she  would  call  at  several  places,  and  be  for  some  time 
detained  before  reaching  Macao.  And  should  I  not  meet 
her  there,  a  Canton  packet  would  take  me  comfortably 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          235 

back  to  the  United  States.  These  were  the  dreamings 
of  a  moment,  while  our  boat  was  standing  back  to  the 
fortification  where  I  had  landed  first,  in  the  morning,  and 
the  bearing  of  which  I  had  been  sufficiently  considerate 
to  take  by  the  stars,  before  it  had  become  so  dark  that 
the  land  could  not  be  seen. 

But  in  the  unrest  of  the  night,  other  thoughts  presented 
themselves,  though  they  were  too  gentle  in  their  alarms 
to  frighten  entirely  from  me,  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day, 
a  welcome  refreshment  from  sleep.  But  what,  if  circum- 
stances should  so  conspire  as  to  reduce  me  to  the  neces- 
sity of  begging  ?  No  one  person  knew  me  on  shore.  And 
then,  the  symptoms  on  board  the  John  Adams  had  been 
such,  since  she  left  Bombay,  as  to  leave  it  doubtful  whether 
the  cholera  was  not  in  our  squadron.  And  in  a  climate 
deemed  unhealthy,  and  exerting  myself  in  the  excitement 
of  the  moment,  beyond  my  own  strength  and  habits,  it 
might  be  my  destiny  to  be  prostrated  suddenly  among 
strangers  of  a  different  faith  and  language,  and  where  I 
knew  not  twenty  words  of  their  tongue.  But  necessity 
in  the  unexpected  circumstances  in  which  I  had  been 

F  laced,  could  not  be  resisted,  and  God  Almighty,  in  whom 
trusted,  I  did  not  doubt  a  moment,  would  direct  and 
provide. 

The  fortress,  which  is  an  extensive  work,  was  already 
shut,  when  I  had  reached  near  the  landing-place  opposite 
one  of  the  gates.  The  occupants  of  a  boat,  lying  a  little 
way  in  the  stream,  assured  us  that  the  Captain  of  the  fort- 
ress was  already  in  his  bed  ;  and  my  boat's  crew  appeared 
to  regard  it  as  equivalent  to  a  capital  crime  to  wake  him, 
and  they  now  insisted  that  they  would  not  land,  but  they 
must  take  me  up  the  stream  some  three  or  four  miles  to 
Pangim.  I  told  them  that  they  should  land  me,  unless 
the  breakers  prevented,  which  were  now  roaring  horribly 
on  the  ear  in  the  darkness  of  the  moonless  night ;  and  I 
took  my  sword  in  my  hand,  without  any  further  threats 
than  my  manner  indicated,  which  once  before,  when  the 
men  had  become  exhausted  nearly  to  a  rebellion  as  we  were 
pulling  for  the  ship,  I  had,  with  yet  more  positiveness  assum- 
ed, although  I  am  sure  I  could  not  have  injured  the  head  of 
one  of  the  miserable  cowards.  They  yielded,  and  said 


236 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


they  would  try ;  and  we  pulled  to  the  north  side  of  the 
stone  pier,  over  which  the  inswelling  surf  now  rolled,  as 
if  it  were  another  cataract  of  Niagara.  We  kept  the 
boat  off  from  its  side,  or  the  waters,  in  the  immense  sheets 
as  they  rolled  over  the  pier,  would  instantly  have  filled 
the  boat,  and  dashed  her  away  like  a  speck  drifting  on 
the  boundless  billow. 


FORT  AGO ADA. 


Watching  my  opportunity,  I  sprung  upon  the  part  of 
the  pier  nearest  the  shore ;  and  approaching  the  gate  of 
the  fortress-wall,  the  sentry  hailed  me.  I  told  him  I  wish- 
ed to  speak  with  the  Captain  of  the  fort.  The  Captain, 
with  half  a  dozen  other  Portuguese,  put  his  head  out  the 
window  of  a  stone  building,  which  formed  something  like 
a  bastion  of  the  embattlements  of  the  fortress,  and  said 
that  he  was  the  Captain.  I  told  him  my  story.  He  apo- 
logized for  his  soldier-like  quarters,  but  soon  the  gate  was 
thrown  open ;  and  as  if  he  thought  some  secret  design 
was  being  made  upon  the  fortress,  or  else  for  effect,  I  was 
ushered  through  the  portal,  along  a  line  of  guards  of  some 
twenty  dark-faced  and  dark-dressed  soldiers,  who  had 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  237 

been  gathered  at  this  point  of  the  fort  at  the  opening  of 
the  gate.  The  Portuguese  officer  showed  me  to  a  small 
apartment,  through  a  passage  which  led  for  some  short 
distance  without  the  main  wall,  but  where  two  sentinels 
were  stationed,  and  which  constituted  the  quarters  of  the 
Captain.  I  was  glad  to  be  there,  notwithstanding  some 
big  stories  I  had  heard  of  Portuguese  treachery,  and  many 
more  I  had  read  of  it ;  and  now  I  was  a  stranger,  within 
a  Portuguese  fortress,  in  most  treacherous  times.  I  was 
sufficiently  tired  to  find  the  spread  cot  of  the  Captain,  not- 
withstanding the  immensity  of  his  mustaches,  a  very  ac- 
ceptable tender,  although  I  felt  a  reluctance  to  avail  my- 
self of  it,  as  this  Portuguese  officer,  with  true  soldier-like 
generosity,  threw  a  piece  of  matting  into  another  corner 
of  the  room,  and  said,  "  This,  to-night,  shall  be  my  bed  ;" 
inviting  me,  at  the  same  time,  to  slip  off  my  coat  and  to 
lounge,  after  my  fatigue,  upon  his  clean-spread  and  ten- 
dered cot.  A  cup  of  tea  was  ere  long  served,  with  bread 
and  butter,  curd,  cheese,  eggs,  and  cake,  the  last  being  taken, 
with  a  nonchalance  du  corps,  from  the  wall,  were  it  had 
been  suspended  by  a  nail  in  a  wrapper  around  the  plate 
that  contained  it.  "  Eat,  my  good  sir,"  said  the  Portuguese 
with  the  huge  mustaches ;  "  you  no  eat  any  thing ;"  not- 
withstanding I  had  already  finished  a  couple  of  eggs,  drank 
one  cup  of  tea,  and  a  round  glass  full  of  most  delightful 
water.  I  was  greatly  refreshed,  and  threw  myself  upon 
my  cot  to  get  some  rest.  I  slept ; — and  I  remember,  in 
my  visions  of  the  night,  to  have  seen  two  gallant  ships 
standing  in  shore  for  me,  which  reassured  me  that  how- 
ever unsailor-like  it  might  be  for  the  ships  to  be  there,  or 
that  I  should  be  here,  the  generous  Commodore  would  not 
leave  me  behind.  But  my  dreams  were  unquieting.  I 
had  a  rencounter  with  two  banditti  and  mastered  them. 
But  these  were  plantoms  of  the  brain  ;  perhaps  the  real 
banditti  I  should  not  be  able  to  master,  if  about  me  there 
were  those  who  might  be- disposed  to  attack  me.  Besides, 
there  was  something  peculiar  in  the  cup  of  tea  which  I, 
almost  from  necessity  on  account  of  the  politeness  which 
had  prepared  it  for  me,  had  drunk.  I  now  remembered 
that  the  officer  had  poured  some  drops,  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  from  a  junk-bottle  into  the  small  teapot,  in  which  the 


238  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

tea  was  drawn.  What  on  earth,  or  in  the  name  of  poison, 
could  he  pour  from  a  junk-bottle  into  a  teapot,  without  a 
design  to  get  rid  of  me  ?  But  we  had  shown,  only  a  few 
hours  before,  a  sufficient  force,  at  least,  to  induce  respect, 
so  long  as  there  was  a  probability  that  the  ships  would 
return.  Therefore,  I  slept,  and  was  refreshed  and  much 
recovered  from  my  fatigue  the  next  morning,  and  my 
nervous  excitement  was  past.  The  broad  daylight  brought 
with  it  the  assurance  to  myself  that  my  good  health  con- 
tinued. But  the  daylight  was  abroad,  and  the  sun  was 
up,  and  the  look-out  from  the  high  point  of  the  flag-staff 
reported,  to  my  great  disappointment,  "no  ships  to  be  seen 
in  the  offing"  I  quietly  yielded  to  my  apparent  fate,  and 
began  to  make  some  inquiries,  to  enable  me  to  decide  upon 
my  best  course,  when  I  learned  that  the  Captain  of  a  Por- 
tuguese brig  was  in  the  fort,  who  was  designing  to  get 
under  way  in  a  few  hours  for  Bombay ;  but  only  a  few 
moments  longer  had  passed,  before  a  paper  was  handed 
to  the  Captain,  as  a  second  report  from  the  telegraph,  con- 
taining the  words,  "  Two  large  three-masted  vessels  in  the 
offing,  standing  to  the  north."  "  They  are  the  frigate  and 
the  corvette,"  I  exclaimed ;  "  I  thought  they  would  not 
leave  me."  I  went  myself,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Captain, 
to  the  top  of  the  hill,  embraced  within  the  extensive  forti- 
fication, and  where  the  flag-staff  is  fixed,  to  see  what  I 
could  make  the  vessels  out  to  be,  while  he  ordered  break- 
fast to  be  prepared  and  to  be  in  readiness  for  me  on  my 
return.  The  flag-staff  I  should  judge  to  be  400  feet  above 
the  walls  of  the  fortress.  These  walls  stretch  along  the 
shore,  and  are  themselves  a  part  of  the  works ;  and  a  dis- 
tinct fort,  above  all  the  rest,  with  covered  passages  lead- 
ing to  it,  is  almost  if  not  quite  impregnable  to  any  force, 
should  the  lower  works  be  taken.  You  ascend  to  this 
high  point  by  inclined  planes,  so  arranged  that  provisions 
and  ammunition  may  be  conveyed  to  the  elevated  position, 
while  the  artillery  above  commands  the  whole  ranges  of 
the  steep  passages.  The  view  from  this  point  is  at  onco 
beautiful  and  grand.  The  wide  ocean  extends  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach,  north,  south,  and  west,  with  the  adja- 
cent county  around,  in  its  peculiar  features  of  inland,  island, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          239 

and  mountain,  in  their  perpetual  green  and  foliage  of  the 
tropics. 

I  took  the  glass,  and  at  once  recognised  the  long  side 
of  the  good  Columbia,  standing  in,  and  with  grateful  feel- 
ings believed  that  I  should  yet  reach  her.  The  Adams 
was  further  out,  but  standing  on  the  same  tack,  north.  I 
had  already  provided  a  large  boat  with  sails  and  ten  oars- 
men to  take  me  out,  at  the  first  appearance  of  the  ships  in 
the  offing,  should  they  again  be  seen. 

Taking  another  cup  of  tea,  (which,  in  the  daylight,  at 
its  making,  I  now  more  particularly  observed  to  be  taken 
from  a  junk-bottle,  in  which  it  was  preserved  instead  of 
the  more  usual  domestic  tea-caddy  with  which  I  have 
been  familiar,)  I  entered  my  boat,  and  cheerily,  with  her 
canvass  spread  and  ten  men  at  the  poles,  the  boat  made 
good  speed  towards  the  Columbia,  still  some  ten  or  twelve 
miles  in  the  distance.  When  she  perceived  us,  she  tacked 
ship,  and  bore  down  for  us  as  far  as  practicable  with  the 
head  wind  ;  and,  ere  long,  I  was  again,  with  a  very  com- 
fortable feeling  of  convenience,  on  the  deck  of  the  frigate. 
Advancing  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  I  reported  myself,  as 
is  usual,  as  having  "  returned."  "  Very  well,  sir,"  was  the 
courteous  and  officer-like  reply.  "  Please  report  yourself 
to  the  First  Lieutenant,"  who  was  standing  not  far  off. 
"  Very  well,  sir,"  was  repeated,  with  as  much  gravity  as 
the  countenance  of  this  amiable  gentleman  could  assume, 
"  please  report  to  the  Commodore." 

I  made  the  best  of  my  way  to  the  cabin.  Our  Commo- 
dore was  sitting  over  his  private  journal ;  and  whether  it 
contains  a  private  record  of  my  own  name  or  not,  I  do 
not  know  ;  but  I  do  know  that  Commodore  Read  has  in- 
variably treated  me  with  gentlemanly  kindness  ;  and  that, 
in  a  few  moments  more,  the  ship,  with  a  crowd  of  canvass 
set,  was  pressing  on  her  bounding  course  to  Colombo,  the 
capital  of  the  island  of  Ceylon. 


240  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


SECTION  X. 

COLOMBO. 

Colombo.  Church  in  the  evening,  on  shore.  Differences  between  the 
English  and  American  prayer  book.  The  Governor's  dinner  to  the  Com- 
modore  and  his  officers.  "  Grace."  Sir  John  Wilson.  The  Governor's 
house.  Promenade  with  his  Excellency.  Governor  Mackenzie's  opinion 
of  the  American  Missionaries,  and  liberality  towards  them.  Music. 
Early  fortifications  in  the  East.  Mess-dinners.  Mrs.  Steward  Macken- 
zie. Sail  by  moonlight,  and  dinner  at  Sir  John  Wilson's.  Sir  John's 
mansion.  Bouquet.  Cooper's  Switzerland.  Willis's  poetry.  Lord 
Cochrane  at  New  Orleans.  Hospitality  of  British  officers.  "  West  coast 
disaster."  Murder  of  Captain  Wilkins  of  the  barque  Eclipse,  by  the  Ma- 
lays. Tiffin  with  Rev.  Mr.  Bailey.  A  drive.  Shells.  Ceylon  the  best 
place  for  making  a  collection  in  conchology.  Breakfast  to  Governor 
Mackenzie  on  board  the  frigate.  Leaving  Colombo. 

WE  anchored  in  Colombo  Roadstead  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, November  25th,  1838,  having  made  land  the  preced- 
ing evening  and  standing  off  during  the  night. 

After  the  services  on  board,  during  the  day,  I  accom- 
panied Lieutenants  Magruder  and  Turner  and  Dr.  Haz- 
lett  to  the  shore,  to  attend  the  services  of  the  church  in 
the  evening.  It  was  dark  before  we  landed  ;  but  the  Co- 
lonial Secretary,  who  had  called  on  the  Commodore,  po- 
litely accompanied  us  to  the  church  within  the  walls  of 
the  fort,  and  obtained  us  seats.  As  we  landed  we  passed 
within  the  gate,  along  a  street  with  its  white  colonnade 
lining  on  either  side  the  whole  range  of  the  low  buildings, 
and  producing  a  fine  effect  in  the  bright  moonbeams ;  while 
the  mellowing  shade  of  the  hour  concealed  all  that  would 
diminish  our  favorable  impression,  as  we  reached  the 
church,  lighted  up  for  the  services  of  the  evening.  The 
congregation  had  already  mostly  assembled,  and  the  faces 
and  the  dress  of  the  female  part  of  the  congregation  were 
so  like  our  own  congregations  at  home,  and  the  prayer 
book  containing  our  own  prayers,  and  the  English  service 
in  our  own  tongue,  and  the  like  ceremonies  of  rising, 
sitting,  and  kneeling,  all  made  it  seem  like  being  in  one  of 
our  own  temples  in  our  own  western  home,  among  our 
own  acquaintances,  on  the  still  eve  of  the  Sabbath  day. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          241 

Most  of  the  gentlemen  attending  the  services  of  the 
evening,  were  the  officers  of  the  barracks,  in  their  red 
uniform,  accompanying  the  ladies  present,  who  were  gen- 
erally of  the  officers'  families. 

ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    EPISCOPAL    SERVICE. 

The  American  is  struck  with  the  slight  variations  in  the 
services  of  the  English  from  the  American  Episcopal 
church.  And  where  this  variation  occurs,  I  think  it  must 
be  conceded,  that  the  alterations,  in  our  American  service, 
are  decidedly  an  improvement.  The  English  clergy  so 

consider  it ;  at  least  the  Rev.  Mr.  B thus  expressed 

himself  to  me,  when  the  two  services  were  a  subject  of  re- 
mark. There  is  also  a  difference  between  us  in  pronoun- 
cing several  words  of  the  service.  In  the  opening  exhor- 
tation of  the  clergyman  to  the  congregation,  the  attention 
of  the  American  is  particularly  arrested  by  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  word  acknowledge,  which  the  English  clergy- 
man pronounces  as  if  written  ac-no-ledge:  "  The  Scripture 
moveth  us  in  sundry  places  to  ac-no-ledge  and  confess  our 
manifold  sins  and  wickedness  ;"  "  And  although  we  ought 
at  all  times  to  ac-no-ledge  our  sins  before  God,"  &c.  And 
in  the  Te  Deum  laudamus,  "  We  praise  thee  O  God,  we 
ac-no-ledge  thee  to  be  the  Lord."  And  yet,  Sheridan, 
and  Perry,  and  Jones,  and  Jameson  pronounce  this  word 
as  if  written  ac-nol-ledge,  as  also  do  Walker,  Fuller,  and 
Knight,  while  they  are  the  only  three  who  give  their  au- 
thority also  for  ac-no-ledge. 

As  we  returned  to  the  ship,  the  sea  was  running  high. 
The  anchorage  ground  is  an  open  roadstead  ;  and  some- 
times the  swell  is  threatening  to  a  small  boat.  And  yet 
there  is  a  species  of  canoe  here,  constructed  with  an  out- 
rig.  It  consists  of  light  pieces  of  wood,  narrow,  and  nearly 
as  long  as  the  canoe,  and  is  parallel  with  it.  It  has  two 
arched  bars,  extending  from  the  canoe  to  this  stick,  thus 
enlarging  the  base  of  the  little  boat  by  several  feet.  This 
fragile  thing,  with  this  construction,  rides  on  the  heaviest 
billow,  like  a  wafer  or  a  cork. 

21 


242  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


DINNER    WITH    THE    GOVERNOR. 

The  Commodore  and  some  of  his  officers  dined  with 
his  Excellency  the  Governor,  last  evening,  November  27th. 
It  was  a  beautiful  night.  We  reached  the  Governor's 
house,  a  spacious  mansion,  at  half-past  seven  o'clock. 
Commodore  Read  and  his  officers  were  severally  present- 
ed to  Mrs.  Mackenzie,  the  Governor's  lady,  who  entered 
the  room  with  her  hat  on,  as  her  head-dress,  which  we 
humbly  conceive  to  have  been  in  great  bad  taste,  while 
her  ladyship  was  prodigal  with  her  smiles,  and  with  great 
frankness  and  goodness  of  heart,  placed  her  guests  at 
their  ease.  The  Governor's  self,  in  lace  and  silver  epau- 
letts,  soon  presented  himself,  that  others  might  be  presented 
to  him.  He  entered  the  reception-room  after  a  number  of 
the  guests  had  arrived,  with  ease,  but  less  with  the  air  of  a 
polished  courtier  than  the  plainer  gentleman  of  education 
and  great  good  sense,  who  had  seen  the  world  and  knew 
its  different  phases  and  its  fashions,  and  relied  on  his  per- 
sonal merit  and  conscious  mental  acquisition  for  consider- 
ation, in  connection  with  his  station,  rather  than  on  man- 
nerism, or  on  a  polished  address  that  excludes  mannerism, 
in  the  faultless  but  marked  attitudes  of  graceful  and  ele- 
gant demeanor. 

An  hour  passed  after  the  arrival  of  the  Governor's 
company — few  ladies  and  more  gentlemen — when  there 
was  a  movement  from  the  antechamber  to  the  hall,  where 
the  guests  placed  themselves  on  a  range  of  seats  around 
a  tasteful  and  well-spread  table. 

It  contributed  much  to  my  gratification  to  be  seated  on 
the  right  of  Sir  John  Wilson,  the  Commander  of  all  her 
majesty's  forces  in  the  island  ;  a  gentleman  of  great  amia- 
bleness,  worth,  and  popularity,  and  distinguished  for  his 
services  in  the  peninsular  war. 

His  Excellency  called  upon  myself  to  "  say  grace,"  as 
the  guests  were  about  to  take  their  seats,  and  again  to  re- 
turn thanks  before  the  ladies  left  the  table.  I  note  this 
here,  as  illustrating  the  custom  of  those  in  high  stations, 
in  the  East,  of  whose  hospitality  we  have  participated, 
and  to  commend  what  we  deem  laudable  at  their  tables. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  243 

At  Bombay,  at  the  Governor's  table,  the  same  was  true. 
A  blessing  was  asked  and  thanks  returned.  And  there 
was  no  blush  for  the  name  of  Christian,  nor  felt  appre- 
hension that  this  act  of  devout  acknowledgment  to  the 
Giver  of  all  our  mercies,  might  be  unwelcome  to  the 
pleasure  of  any  at  the  extensive  table. 

The  gentlemen  sat  longer  after  the  ladies  had  retired 
than  was  the  case  at  Bombay,  but  it  was  not  in  the  turbu- 
lence of  noise  and  excess  of  wine,  but  to  indulge  in  the 
vivacity  of  free  and  social  conversation.  We  had  already 
learned  of  the  frank  hospitality  of  the  residents  at  Colom- 
bo ;  and  our  anchors  had  hardly  dropped  before  we  were 
partaking  of  it  in  a  manner  that  assured  us  of  its  gener- 
ousness  and  entire  cordiality. « 

Before  I  had  risen,  myself,  from  the  table,  earlier  than 
others,  Sir  John  Wilson  had  politely  urged  that  I  would 
dine  with  him,  at  his  lovely  villa,  on  the  beautiful  little 
lake  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city.  Leaving  the  day 
to  be  named  by  myself,  and  proposing  to  invite  some 
friends  whom  he  supposed  it  would  give  me  pleasure  to 
meet,  I  was  happy  to  accept  his  politeness,  even  to  the 
necessary  omission  of  courtesies  proffered  in  notes  of 
invitation  to  the  ward-room  mess  generally,  and  some 
others  individually,  which  had  been  received  for  every 
night  of  the  week.  The  number  of  English  officers  at 
this  station  is  numerous,  and  the  officers  of  the  different 
brigades  have  their  different  mess-houses.  Each  of  these 
messes  sent  invitations  to  the  officers  of  the  Columbia. 
And  though  I  did  not  make  it  convenient,  myself,  to  be  at 
either  of  their  dinners,  the  officers  who  were,  found  the 
entertainments  to  be  most  creditable  to  the  messes,  for 
the  taste  and  elegance  displayed ;  and  in  every  instance 
they  were  particularly  complimentary,  in  the  sentiments 
which  were  expressed,  towards  the  American  nation,  and 
personally  to  Commodore  Read  and  his  officers. 

As  I  vacated  my  seat  at  the  table,  I  strolled  into  the 
verandah,  extending,  with  its  colonnade  of  pillars,  quite 
the  length  of  the  main  building  with  its  extensive  wings, 
and  adjacent  to  the  garden  grounds,  which  surround  the 


house ;  but  ere  long  I  passed  to  the  upper  chambers,  de- 
lightfully disposed  for  receiving  e 


244  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

sweeps  with  the  sea-gale,  through  the  windows,  quite 
down  to  the  floor  of  the  verandah.  And  the  sea  !  the  deep 
rolling  sea,  the  surf-sounding  sea,  the  beautiful,  the  sub- 
lime, the  eternal  sea,  with  its  now  calm  and  now  turbulent 
and  now  throwing  bosom,  spreads  its  vast  expanse  before 
the  commanding  residence  of  the  Governor.  The  build- 
ing consists  of  a  centre  and  two  long  and  low  wings, 
surrounded  by  the  verandah  already  alluded  to,  with  its 
massive  pillars  in  front  and  rear,  with  also  an  upper  ve- 
randah to  the  centre  building,  which  opens  at  each  of  its 
ends,  directly  upon  the  flat  roofs  of  the  long  wings  of  the 
mansion. 

As  I  ascended  the  inner  flight  of  stairs  to  the  upper 
verandah,  the  Governor  approached  me  ;  and  as  we  leaned 
over  the  balustrade,  contemplating  the  scene  in  front  of 
us,  his  Excellency  soon  discovered  the  elements  of  poetry 
to  be  in  his  make  ;  and  for  a  while,  we  promenaded  this 
sweet  balcony,  overlooking  the  grounds  between  the  near 
sea-shore  and  the  garden,  with  the  white  pagoda-like 
lighthouse  in  the  perspective.  And  the  moon,  the  bright 
moon,  on  one  of  her  loveliest  passages  through  the  clear 
and  deep  blue  sky,  was  moving  to-night,  in  her  meekness 
and  softest  sheen  of  glory,  with  only  here  and  there  a 
collection  of  fleecy  clouds,  which,  drinking  in  her  prodigal 
beams,  added  new  beauty  to  the  scene,  as  they  cast  their 
mimic  shadows  on  the  illumined  bosom  of  the  far-out 
deep. 

"  That  scene  reminds  me,"  said  his  Excellency,  "  of  a 
print  which  I  have  seen,  representing  night  in  its  compo- 
sition, and  another  of  morning.  The  night-scene  was 
composed  of  the  particulars  as  they  now  lie  before  us." 

"  It  is  beautiful,"  I  replied.  "  I  have  seen  night  repre- 
sented by  a  black  horse  with  a  dark  cloud  curling  upon 
his  neck ;  and  morn,  by  a  courser  striking  his  small  hoof 
upon  the  fleecy  folds  of  a  golden-edged  cumulus,  as  his 
nostrils  snuffed  its  vapor  as  the  early  dew.  But  this  is 
indeed  a  charming  view — the  queen  of  night,  as  she  is 
now  seen  reclining  on  those  clouds,  as  Cowley  describes 
her,  like  a  Sultana  pillowed  on  couches  of  silver.  And 
then,  that  mighty  ocean,  and  that  dashing,  cascading, 
eternal  surf  which  beats  upon  those  rocks,  throwing  up 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  245 

their  jets  in  crystal  sheets  of  foam,  to  drink  in  the  moon- 
beam, in  contrast  with  the  deep  shades  of  those  young 
forest  trees — certainly  there  is  composition  here,  to  de- 
light ;  and  how  the  soul  loves  the  hallowed  impressions 
received  from  the  pure  sounds  and  pure  visions  of  nature, 
when  addressed  to  the  mind  which  sometimes  lives  in 
itself." 

"  You  see  those  shrubs,"  said  the  Governor,  as  he  led 
the  way  from  the  verandah  to  the  promenade  on  the  top 
of  the  wing  of  the  building  nearest  the  sea,  and  the  ideal 
visions  of  improvement  in  his  garden-plots  warming  his 
imagination,  as  the  capacities  of  his  grounds  were  alluded 
to  ;  "  scarcely  one  of  them  was  here  seven  months  ago  ; — 
so  luxuriant  is  the  vegetation  in  this  climate,  that  they 
have  been  brought  forward  in  their  cultivation,  in  so  short 
a  period." 

The  Governor  devotes  his  mornings  to  the  improvement 
of  his  grounds,  and  pointed  out  to  me  the  different  plans, 
as  they  lay  in  his  own  imaginative  mind.  He  has  but 
lately,  comparatively,  come  to  the  island,  as  Governor  of 
Ceylon,  but  evinces  an  enthusiasm  for  its  improvement, 
and  the  development  of  its  resources,  and  the  promotion 
of  its  interests  as  a  statesman,  a  Christian  philanthropist, 
and  a  man  of  literary  taste  and  acquisition.  He  has  al- 
ready found  materials  of  interest  in  the  old  Dutch  records; 
and  is  having  translated  a  manuscript  document  composed 
by  one  of  the  old  Governors,  on  the  eve  of  his  leaving 
the  island  for  the  benefit  of  his  successors,  showing  what 
he  had  done,  and  proposing  measures  which  would  facili- 
tate and  extend  further  improvement. — "Just  such  a 
thing,"  said  his  Excellency,  "  as  I  should  like  to  leave  to 
my  successor."  The  paper  is  a  curious  document,  and 
will  form  a  treat  to  the  antiquary  and  the  politician. 

His  Excellency  talked  of  the  interior— gave  a  graphic 
description  of  the  reception  of  one  of  the  chief  men  of 
Candy,  who  lately  visited  Colombo,  whom  he  presented 
with  a  medal,  and  who,  of  his  own  accord,  has  lately 
manumitted  all  his  slaves.  This  man,  though  of  little  im- 
portance in  a  political  point  of  view,  in  the  present  firm 
establishment  of  the  power  of  the  English  in  the  island, 
yet  retained  all  the  airs  of  one  who  still  deemed  himself  a 

21* 


246  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

prince  among  his  own  people.  And  of  the  scenery  of  the 
interior,  on  the  route  to  Candy,  the  olden  residence  of  the 
ancient  powerful  chiefs  of  the  island  and  the  capital  of 
the  empire,  the  Governor  gave  a  description,  which,  doubt- 
less, was  colored  by  an  imagination  and  a  sympathy  which 
he  legitimately  inherits,  as  the  birthright  of  one  who  has 
been  born  in  Scotland,  and  has  roamed  in  his  young  days 
among  its  mountain  ranges  and  highland  hills. 

I  was  glad,  also,  to  hear  from  his  Excellency,  an  une- 
quivocal commendation  of  our  missionaries,  who  are  sit- 
uated in  different  parts  of  the  island.  During  the  late 
embarrassed  state  of  the  finances  of  the  people  in  America, 
which  affected  the  resources  of  the  missionary  stations, 
the  government  here  contributed  £200  or  nearly  $900 
for  the  benefit  of  the  American  missions.  And  his  Ex- 
cellency, in  making  up  his  private  budget  this  season, 
was  so  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  commendable  zeal 
which  actuated  the  American  missionaries,  and  the  happy 
results  consequent  on  their  labors,  that  he  did  not  wait  to 
hear  of  any  embarrassment  of  theirs,  or  allow  an  applica- 
tion to  be  made  in  their  behalf,  but  anticipated  any  thing 
of  this  kind  by  asking  if  the  allowance  of  the  preceding 
year  would  be  acceptable  to  them.  It  was  added  to  his 
list  of  expenditures. 

"  And  believe  me,"  was  the  sentiment  of  his  Excellency, 
"  we  think  the  Government  to  be  under  a  greater  obliga- 
tion than  this,  for  the  efforts  which  the  American  mission- 
aries are  putting  forth  for  the  education  and  the  religious 
welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  island." 

We  had  been  promenading  for  more  than  an  hour  on 
the  top  of  this  wide  and  extended  west  wing  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's house,  with  a  bright  heaven  above  us,  and  a  rich 
landscape  and  glorious  moon-lit  sea-scene  around  us,  un- 
covered, and  with  the  moonbeam  glancing  back  from  the 
rich  lace  of  the  Governor,  as  we  turned  or  paused  in  our 
walk,  to  express  an  agreeing  sentiment  on  the  topics  al- 
ready alluded  to  ;  or  which  the  works  of  Scott,  and  Bul- 
wer,  or  Cooper  and  Irving,  (the  last,  all  Englishmen 
bless,)  or  the  general  theme  of  England  and  America 
awakened.  And  now,  a  strain  of  music,  borne  from  the 
inner  rooms  along  the  verandah,  met  our  ears,  in  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          247 

open  air,  as  the  vibrating  zephyr  came  dancing  and  de- 
lighted by  us.  It  had  attraction  for  both  of  us,  and  we 
sought  the  company,  who  were  listening,  with  a  marked 
compliment,  to  the  fine  execution  of  one  of  our  officers 
on  the  Spanish  guitar. 

"Americans,"  said  an  English  officer  in  red,  who  was 
near  me,  "  excel  in  music.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
spending  some  time  among  them,  and  longest  in  New  York. 
I  speak  from  observation  and  feeling." 

"At  least,"  I  rejoined,  "  I  know  some  New  Yorkers  who 
have  a  love  for  music  almost  to  a  passion,  whatever  may 
be  their  execution ;  still,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern 
States  have  the  highest  reputation  for  excellence  in  the 
art,  which,  you  know,  it  is  said,  and  I  should  question  the 
sensibility  of  the  man  who  doubts  it,  once  had  the  power 
to  move  stones  into  regular  built  palisadoes.  And  your 

particular  friend,  Miss  B ,  I  should  think  had  inherited 

the  lyre  of  Apollo,  as  his  favorite  muse.  At  least  she  has 
the  song  of  soul  which  is  the  soul  of  song,  if  I  have  read 
rightly  the  spirited  play  of  her  features." 

The  Colombo  people  were  ever  ready  to  say  kind  and 
complimentary  things  of  America,  and  I  had  no  reason 
once  to  question  the  sincerity  of  their  expressed  sentiments 
towards  our  nation  ;  but  without  an  intended  compliment, 
merely,  to  the  young  lady,  to  whom  the  gentleman  I  then 
addressed,  as  rumor  that  evening  said,  was  soon  to  be  joined 
in  matrimonial  nuptails,  I  thought  her  face  strikingly  pretty, 
as  the  simple  fillet  of  braid  confined  her  luxurious  ringlets 
from  off  her  beautiful  and  pure  brow. 

The  ladies  gave  us  music,  with  the  piano-forte  as  their 
accompaniment ;  and  the  evening  was  spent  in  social  and 
agreeable  interview. 

Sir  John,  lounging  at  his  ease  on  a  rich  ottoman,  had 
passed  to  me  the  word, "  dinna  forget,"  just  previous  to  our 
leaving ;  and  the  Commodore  and  his  officers,  at  a  sea- 
sonable hour,  returned  to  the  ship. 


On  Wednesday  evening,  a  large  number  of  officers  went 
on  shore — some  to  the  "  mess  dinners,"  some  to  meet  other 


248  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

invitations,  and  most  of  them,  finally  to  gather  at  the  ball 
of  Mrs.  Stewart  Mackenzie,*  the  Governor's  lady,  later  in 
the  evening.  Dr.  Hazlett  and  myself  found  Sir  John  Wil- 
son's carriage  waiting  for  us,  as  the  last  boat  from  the  ship, 
over  a  high  sea,  reached  the  shore.  We  entered  it,  and 
accompanied  by  Sir  John's  aid,  Major  S.,  on  horseback, 
who  was  politely  waiting  for  us  at  the  dock,  we  were  soon 
rolled  without  the  gate  of  the  fort. 

These  early  fortifications  of  the  East  generally  embrace 
a  large  space  of  ground,  and  at  first  must  have  contained 
all  the  European  residents ;  and  now,  the  wall  of  the  fort 
at  Bombay  extends  for  six  or  nine  miles  in  circumference, 
embracing  a  large  portion  of  the  city  ;  and  the  wall  of  the 
fortification  at  Colombo,  though  not  as  extensive,  embra- 
ces the  long  lines  of  spacious  buildings  constituting  the 
barracks,  and  nearly  all  the  houses  of  the  European  resi- 
dents. 

Having  passed  the  gate,  we  rolled  almost  insensibly  over 
the  first  part  of  the  smooth  road  that  runs  along  the  exqui- 
site beach,  where  the  surf  is  ceaselessly  throwing  up  its  crys- 
tal cascades,  with  the  dashing  murmur  of  waters,  so  grateful 
in  a  warm  climate ;  but  we  soon  wound  along  the  diverg- 
ing way  around  the  fort,  and  to  our  delightful  surprise, 
were  brought  suddenly  to  the  lip  of  a  beautiful  lake,  where 
a  boat  was  waiting  for  us. 

"  We  will  give  you  a  sail  by  moonlight,"  said  the  Major, 
as  he  rode  up  to  the  carriage  door  and  dismounted. 

*  Mrs.  Stewart  Mackenzie  is  the  daughter  of  Lord  Seaforth,  whose 
family  name  is  Mackenzie.  She  was  the  only  child,  and  married 
Sir  Samuel  Hood,  afterwards  an  Admiral  in  the  British  Navy.  She 
inherited  the  estates  of  her  father  on  his  death,  but  her  husband 
dying  without  issue,  she  lost  the  title.  She  afterwards  married  Gen- 
eral Alexander  Stewart,  her  present  husband,  who  at  his  marriage 
took  the  family  name  of  Mackenzie. 

It  is  said  that  his  Excellency  has  been  offered  knighthood,  but  has 
declined  it,  in  view  of  obtaining  something  yet  more  acceptable, 
which,  it  is  thought  probable,  will  await  him  on  his  return,  when  he 
ehall  have  conducted  with  satisfaction  to  her  Majesty  his  Guberna- 
torial term.  Lord  Seaforth,  the  family  title  of  the  Mackenzies,  is 
what  we  presume  would  meet  his  Excellency's  desires,  and  the 
family's  expectation.  And  the  peerage  would  receive  an  acquisi- 
tion in  the  person  of  his  Excellency,  that  would  add  honor  to  its 
number. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  249 

We  skipped  from  the  carriage  to  the  boat,  while  the 
horses  were  ordered  around,  by  the  road,  to  Sir  John's. 

"And  be  assured  we  will  not  forget  the  moon-lit  scene, 
as  we  glided  over  the  sweet  lake  in  '  bonnie  bark/  to  Sir 
John's,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Beautiful,  indeed,"  exclaimed  the  doctor,  who  is  as  sus- 
ceptible of  the  poetry  and  romance  of  nature,  as  good  taste 
united  with  goodness  of  heart,  always  begets.  Dr.  L.,of 
the  John  Adams,  a  gentleman  of  great  excellence  of  char- 
acter, and  little  Read,  a  sweet  boy  and  bright  youngster, 
were  also  with  us. 

Our  guide  had  evidently  studied  effect  in  giving  us  this 
variety,  on  this  enchanting  evening. 

The  gentle  breeze,  puffing  from  the  land,  soon  filled  our 
sails,  and  the  ripple  curled  around  the  prow  of  our  boat ;  in 
a  moment  more,  we  were  cutting  the  moon-lit  bosom  of  the 
lake,  most  gently  and  pleasantly,  as  the  mimic  wave  sent 
its  music  along  the  sides  of  our  boat. 

"Surely,  night  has  a  lovely  face  in  your  clime,  Major  L., 
and  I  see  she  has  her  tasteful  admirers.  There  is  witchery 
in  the  blending  of  light  and  shade  of  the  tall  trees  of  that 
cocoa-nut  grove,  and  the  shady  indentations  of  that  border 
line  of  the  lake." 

We  were  now  gliding  some  distance  outside  of  a  little 
island  stretching  itself  in  the  lake,  and  in  fifteen  minutes 
more,  our  polite  guide,  by  a  gentle  veering  of  the  boat, 
brought  us  in  full  view  of  the  mansion  of  Sir  John. 

There  it  stood,  as  he  pointed  it  out  to  us,  brilliantly  illu- 
minated, with  the  bright  lamps  gleaming  among  the  colon- 
nade pillars  of  the  extensive  verandahs,  which  overlook  the 
beautiful  sheet  of  water,  and  reach  quite  to  the  margin  of 
the  lovely  expanse.  We  continued  to  near  the  beautiful 
mansion,  as  the  guests  already  assembled  were  seen  moving 
in  promenade  among  the  pillars  of  the  spacious  portico, 
extending  along  the  whole  front  of  the  gorgeous  edifice. 
Our  boat  came  quite  up  to  the  steps  of  the  verandah,  and 
we  were  welcomed  by  Sir  John,  and  others  whom  I  had 
seen  at  the  Governor's  dinner,  on  the  evening  but  one  pre- 
ceding. 

We  were  soon  seated  at  the  dinner  table  of  our  amiable 
host,  ourselves  being  the  last  arrived. 


250  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Sir  John  displayed  his  taste  in  the  decorations  and  the 
substantial  of  his  table.  But  being  myself  no  epicure  in 
meats,  or  connoisseur  in  wines,  which,  on  this  occasion,  were 
varied  and  abundant,  I  take  but  little  notice  of  the  dishes 
which  are  passing  during  the  different  courses  at  a  dinner 
table  ;  and  am  much  more  attracted  by  a  beautiful  vase  of 
flowers  which  may  be  displaying  its  lovely  and  gorgeous 
collection  of  colored  bell  and  virgin  cup,  and  varied  hues 
of  corollas  and  chalices,  and  pistils,  and  stamens,  and  giv- 
ing forth  to  all,  their  beauties  and  fragrance.  And  there- 
fore, I  ought  not  to  forget  the  beautiful  vases  of  flowers 
which  decorated  Sir  John's  dinner  table. 

"  Did  you  mark  it,  Mr.  T.  ?"  he  asked,  as  a  splendid  vase 
was  removed  from  the  table. 

"  Did  I  mark  the  bouquet,  Sir  John  ?  I  was  thinking  that 
it  even  surpassed  the  Governor's  for  its  richness  and  varie- 
ties. And  I  shall  remember  it  too,  and  the  mango, and  the 
place  where  you  showed  me  how  to  cut  it." 

"And  you  will  remember  that  the  bouquet  was  collected 
in  the  month  of  November,  and  the  twenty-eighth  day  of 
that  month,  hard  on  to  the  approaching  Christmas." 

The  residence  of  Sir  John  was  once  a  government  or 
private  botanical  garden  ;  and  he  has,  as  he  said,  always 
been  famous  for  his  boquets.  Only  in  the  sweet  and  flow- 
ering isle  of  Madeira,  should  I  have  looked  for  so  rich  a 
chalice  of  these  beautiful  smiles  of  nature. 

The  manners  of  Sir  John  are  as  gentle  as  his  flowers  ; 
and  I  am  sure  no  one  will  forget  their  kindness  who  has 
been  the  recipient  of  his  amiable  and  elegant  courtesies. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  B.  sat  on  my  left,  who  had  lately  been 
reading  Cooper's  Switzerland,  and  a  collection  of  American 
poetry — all  which  he  was  polite  enough  to  admire.  I  led 
him  to  expect  that  I  would  send  him  some  further  specimens 
of  American  poetry,  when  I  returned  to  the  ship,  with  a 
copy  of  the  Prayer  Book  as  used  in  the  American  Episco- 
pal churches,  which  he  regarded  as  a  very  considerable 
improvement  upon  their  own.  He  had  not  read  Mr.  Wil- 
lis's poetry,  and  I  was  desirous  of  furnishing  him  with  some 
pieces  from  the  elegant  pen  of  this  American  bard.  I 
cannot  conceive  how  it  could  otherwise  than  please  the 
taste  which  can  appreciate  the  delicate  tints  in  coloring 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  251 

and  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  poetic  comparisons  with 
which  Mr.  Willis's  poetry  abounds  in  its  imagery.  It  is  said 
that  Mr.  Willis  seldom  reaches  the  sublime.  Is  it  not 
enough  always  to  be  beautiful,  and  a  master  in  it?  But  this 
gentleman  has  outlived  the  envy  and  the  jealousy  which  I 
am  sure  some  of  his  young  contemporaries  cherished,  and 
used  to  his  disadvantage  as  they  started  together  in  the 
race  of  writers  in  polite  literature.  If  Mr.  Willis  shall 
continue  to  dip  his  pencil  only  in  the  beautifully  pure  and 
virtuous,  which  characterizes  his  own  pieces  particularly, 
and  almost  all  American  poetry,  to  the  shame  of  many  of 
the  writers  of  Europe,  who  have  corrupted  rather  than 
benefited  their  species,  he  will  continue  to  hold  the  consid- 
eration in  the  esteem  of  his  countrymen,  which  is  now 
awarded  to  his  productions,  and  do  the  greatest  justice  to 
himself. 

There  was  an  English  officer  of  rank  at  the  table,  who 
spoke  of  his  having  been  taken  prisoner  on  the  northern 
boundary  in  the  last  war.  He  recurred  with  pleasure  to 
the  gentlemanly  conduct  of  Governor  Cass,  who  was  then 
an  officer  under  General  Harrison.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  English  nation  duly  appreciate  the  prowess  of  the 
young  America.  And  the  two  rencounters  which  the  two 
nations  have  had  with  each  other,  have  contributed  to 
induce  great  respect,  on  the  part  of  both,  for  each  other. 
The  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  alluded  to  at  the  mess- 
dinners  by  the  British  officers,  as  an  intentional  compliment 
to  our  arms.  And  however  much  General  Jackson's  ad- 
ministration, at  home,  may  have  excited  the  opposition  of 
the  respectable  minority  of  the  people,  it  is  no  less  true 
that  the  eclat  of  his  military  fame  has  added  reputation, 
with  himself  at  the  head  of  it,  to  the  American  govern- 
ment, abroad. 

It  is  a  circumstance  which  develops  another  secret  mo- 
tive which  induced  an  attack  on  New  Orleans,  that  the  eye 
of  Lord  Cochrane  was  on  the  cotton  bags  and  hogsheads 
of  tobacco,  which  at  this  time  were  supposed  to  be,  and  were 
in  reality,  deposited  there.  Lord  Cochrane  thought  of  the 
prize-money,  or  the  price  of  plunder.  And  we  have  the 
word  of  one  who  must  have  known,  as  he  was  then  high 
in  rank  as  an  English  officer,  that  "  the  attack  on  New  Or- 


252          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

leans  would  never  have  been  made,  had  it  not  been  to 
gratify  Lord  C.'s  desire  for  enriching  himself.  For  this 
the  blood  was  shed,  and  it  mattered  not  how  many  lives 
of  English  soldiers  should  be  sacrificed  for  it." 

If  such  a  motive  could  actuate,  almost  exclusively,  a 
commanding  officer,  we  should  think  that,  whatever  may 
be  the  fact  as  to  what  has  been  denounced  as  calumny  by 
the  surviving  officers  who  were  at  the  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans, it  yet  might  be  true  of  such  a  commander-in-chief, 
that  he  promised  to  his  army  the  privileges  of  plunder  and 
rapine,  as  rewards  of  victory. 

But  those  things  are  past ;  and  English  and  American 
hearts  can  now,  and  do  now,  respond  to  each  other  when 
they  meet,  as  descendants  of  a  common  parentage,  and  as 
mutual  admirers  and  friends  of  each  other.  And  at  Colom- 
bo, where  the  largest  number  of  its  European  inhabitants 
are  British  officers,  our  Commodore  and  his  officers  have 
received  an  unbounded,  and  generous,  and  frank  hospitality 
and  courtesy,  which,  while  it  evinces  the  noble  heart  of  the 
Briton,  declares  also  the  partiality  of  the  two  nations  for 
each  other.  May  it  long  continue  in  their  mutual  prosperity, 
as  is  their  interest ;  and  in  unitedly  carrying  forward  the 
noble  enterprises  of  the  age,  the  improvements  in  science 
and  the  cultivation  of  letters,  and  in  the  efforts  of  philan- 
thropy and  Christian  benevolence,  for  bringing  a  world 
to  the  participation  of  the  blessings  proffered  in  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Such,  surely,  is  the  becoming  and  wise 
course  to  be  pur-sued  by  two  nations  deriving  their  being 
from  a  common  ancestry,  of  the  same  language,  domestic 
associations,  sympathies,  and  religion. 

When  we  rose  from  the  table,  near  ten  o'clock,  the  car- 
riages were  at  the  door,  to  take  most  of  the  party  to  the 
Governor's,  as  it  had  been  understood  that  the  officers  at 
the  different  dinners  would  attend  Mrs.  Stewart  Macken- 
zie's ball  for  the  evening.  I  had  engaged  to  ride  back  as  far 
as  the  Governor's  in  Sir  John's  carriage,  on  the  evening 
of  accepting  the  invitation  to  dine  with  him,  without  giv- 
ing it  to  be  understood  that  I  should  stop  at  the  ball  during 
the  evening. 

We  drove  back  from  Sir  John's  enchanting  residence, 
through  his  beautiful  grounds,  along  the  road  of  the  ever 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          253 

surf-sounding  beach,  with  the  sea  on  our  left,  which  is  the 
avenue  for  the  fashionable  drives  at  the  hour  a  little  before 
sunset.  And  a  most  delightful  drive  it  is.  Having  re-en- 
tered the  gate,  and  approached  the  Governor's,  the  music 
soon  reached  the  ear  on  the  balmy  air  of  the  evening,  as 
it  came  from  the  well-lighted  halls  of  the  Governor's  man- 
sion. 

Here  I  said  adieu  to  numbers  of  the  company,  who  were 
gathering  for  the  dance;  and  having  lingered  one  moment 
at  the  carriage  door,  as  the  fine  strains  of  music  from  the 
full  band  came  to  the  ear,  I  walked  with  Dr.  H.  to  our 
boat ;  and  ere  long  we  reached  the  ship,  after  an  agree- 
able entertainment  at  the  courteous  and  amiable  Sir  John's. 

I  had  now  visited  the  shore  at  Colombo  four  times,  but 
in  the  evening  of  each  day,  since  our  arrival.  And  there- 
fore my  views  of  the  city,  thus  far,  had  been  entirely  by 
moonlight ;  and  of  the  elite  among  its  inhabitants,  in  the 
gleam  of  the  mellow  light  of  the  chandelier  and  lamp,  and 
lesser  tapers.  But  I  had  hoped  for  a  number  of  days  in  the 
coming  week,  both  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  very  desi- 
rable excursion  into  the  interior,  to  Candy,  which  place  the 
Commodore  had  almost  made  up  his  mind  to  visit,  and  also 
for  examining  some  objects  of  curiosity  in  Colombo ;  and 
more  particularly  to  re-visit  the  places  where  I  had  already 
called.  I  was  quite  desirous  of  again  seeing  the  beautiful 
grounds  of  Sir  John  Wilson,  who  had  obligingly  pressed 
me  to  do  so.  But  all  these  purposes  were  destined  to  be 
frustrated,  by  our  more  speedy  departure  from  the  Roads 
of  Colombo  than  was  the  Commodore's  first  design. 

DISASTER    ON    THE    COAST    OF    SUMATRA. 

The  following  document  appeared  in  the  Colombo  Ob- 
server, purporting  to  be  extracted  from  a  Penang  paper,  of 
Prince  of  Wales'  Island.  It  determined  Commodore  Read, 
without  delay,  again  to  put  to  sea,  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing all  the  information  possible  in  connection  with  the  al- 
leged outrage,  and  if  the  particulars  affirmed  should  be 
substantiated,  and  render  action  on  the  part  of  the  squad- 
ron, in  connection  with  the  case,  justifiable  and  obligatory, 
to  pursue  the  course  which  circumstances  should  require. 

22 


254          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The   Observer  thus   prefaces   the    document  which   he 
quotes : 

"  From  a  number  of  the  Penang  Gazette,  of  the  13th  of 
October,  we  extract  a  description  of  the  murder  of  the  cap- 
tain and  some  of  the  crew  of  the  American  ship  Eclipse, 
by  the  natives  of  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  published  at 
the  request  of  the  Consular  Agent  of  the  United  States, 
at  Penang.  Perhaps  COMMODORE  READ  may  be  induced 
to  bend  his  course,  with  the  Columbia  and  the  John  Ad- 
ams, now  in  our  Roads,  to  Sumatra,  to  avenge  the  death 
of  his  countrvmen." 


MALAYS    TAKING    THE    ECLIPSE. 


"  To  the  Printer  and  Publisher  of  the  Penang  Gazette : 

SIR — I  will  thank  you  to  insert  the  accompanying  let- 
ter, addressed  to  me,  in  your  next  paper. 

Yours,  obediently, 

J.  REVELY, 
Consular  Agent  of  the  United  States  of  America, 

at  Prince  of  Wales'  Island. 
Penang,  October  12,  1838." 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  255 

"WEST  COAST  DISASTER. 

"  SIR — Agreeably  to  your  request,  with  the  greatest 
pleasure,  I  send  you  an  official  narrative  of  the  murder  of 
Captain  Wilkins,  of  the  American  ship  Eclipse. 

"  From  the  24th  June,  the  day  of  my  arrival  at  Tulloy 
Pow  and  Muckie,  and  also  the  day  I  spoke  with  the 
Eclipse,  to  the  26th  August,  I  know  very  little  about  her 
operations ;  however,  I  was  informed  that  Capt.  W.  was 
many  days  trading  at  a  village  called  Trabangan,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  twelve  miles  from  Muckie.  On  the  night 
of  the  26th  August,  at  about  two  o'clock,  a  man  from  a 
jolly-boat  hailed  the  ship  in  French,  and  begged  for  hospi- 
tality, saying  they  were  from  the  barque  Eclipse,  that  the 
captain  was  murdered  by  the  Malays ;  and  the  second 
mate,  who  was  then  in  the  boat,  severely  wounded  in  the 
loins,  who,  with  two  sailors  wounded  in  several  parts  of 
their  bodies,  with  great  difficulty  got  on  board.  After 
dressing  their  wounds,  they  communicated  to  me  the  fol- 
lowing narrative : 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  26th  August,  two  sampans  with 
twelve  men  in  each,  having  a  small  quantity  of  pepper, 
came  alongside  the  ship  and  offered  it  for  sale, as  it  frequent- 
ly happens.  The  second  mate,  whose  watch  it  was,  being 
particularly  acquainted  with  Lebbey  Ousso,  juratoolis  of 
Muckie,  and  knowing  that  he  had  assisted  Captain  W.  in 
his  former  voyages,  thought  it  no  harm  to  allow  him  and 
his  people  to  come  up.  as  they  were  very  good  friends,  not- 
withstanding it  was  then  night-time.  When  they  came 
up,  he  told  them  the  captain  was  asleep,  and  had  been  in- 
disposed many  days,  and  that  they  would  be  obliged  to 
wait  until  he  awoke  to  weigh  their  pepper  and  settle  the 
price.  He  also  told  them  that  the  custom  of  the  ship  was, 
by  way  of  precaution,  to  ask  for  their  weapons,  which 
they  without  any  objection,  immediately  gave  up,  and  he 
got  these  secured  under  lock  and  key.  After  which  they 
feigned  to  sleep  in  different  parts  of  the  deck,  awaiting  the 
appearance  of  the  captain,  who  came  up  about  ten  o'clock, 
when  they  asked  him  to  weigh  their  pepper.  Lebbey 
Ousso,  feigning  friendship  for  the  captain,  complained  of 
the  distrust  of  the  second  mate,  and  requested  to  have  his 


256  A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

own  and  his  friends'  daggers  given  back  to  them,  which 
was  accordingly  complied  with.  From  his  long  acquaint- 
ance with  the  man,  the  captain  did  not  think  that  he  was 
doing  an  act  of  imprudence  in  giving  their  daggers.  Du- 
ring this  interval,  the  second  mate  and  two  sailors  were 
busy  in  getting  ready  the  scales  for  weighing  the  pepper 
that  was  on  deck.  As  the  second  draught  was  being 
weighed,  the  captain,  who  was  seated  by  a  light  near  the 
binnacle,  cried  out,  '  I  am  stabbed.'  The  second  mate, 
who  was  stooping  to  take  up  the  bags,  was  stabbed  in  the 
loins.  At  the  same  time,  the  apprentice,  who  was  near  the 
captain,  was  killed  by  the  very  same  hand  that  slew  his 
commander.  The  second  mate  jumped  overboard,  not- 
withstanding his  wound.  Part  of  the  crew  followed  his 
example,  and  the  rest  went  up  the  masts  and  yards.  The 
mate,  and  those  who  followed  him,  afterwards  returned  to 
the  ship,  by  the  ropes  that  were  hanging  from  the  quarter- 
deck, and  went  up  the  masts  to  join  the  others.  Several 
among  them  were  wounded.  During  this  time,  the  murder- 
ers were  looking  out  for  other  victims.  They  found  the  cook 
in  irons  for  insubordination.  He  begged  for  his  life,  prom- 
ising to  show  them  the  place  where  the  dollars  and  opium 
were  deposited.  They  immediately  broke  his  fetters  and 
set  him  free,  and  took  four  cases  of  opium  and  eighteen 
casks  containing  18,000  Spanish  dollars,  and  left  the  ship 
in  company  with  their  good  friend  the  cook.  The  second 
mate  and  four  sailors  who  were  on  board,  armed  a  boat 
and  came  to  us,  leaving  the  ship  without  any  guardian  to 
take  care  of  her.  The  carpenter  and  two  sailors  went  on 
shore  to  join  the  chief  mate  and  four  sailors,  who  were 
left  there  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  pepper. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  27th,  we  unanimously  agreed 
that  the  sailors  should  return  to  their  ship  and  hoist  the  sig- 
nal of  distress,  to  call  the  chief  mate,  and  if  he  did  not 
come,  to  fire  a  gun,  which  they  did  on  their  arrival  on 
board. 

"  The  second  mate  and  sailor  that  had  two  severe  wounds 
in  their  bodies,  and  another  wounded  in  the  foot,  remained 
on  board  of  my  ship  for  four  days,  after  which  we  took 
them  on  board  of  an  American  brig,  that  was  trading  at 
Assahan. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          257 

"  On  the  27th,  at  two  in  the  afternoon,  Tunkoo  Datoraga 
of  Nunpat  Tuan,  sent  his  schooner  in  quest  of  the  robbers  ; 
she  returned  the  next  day  without  being  able  to  discover 
any  thing. 

"I  was  afterwards  informed,  that  the  ship  Eclipse,  under 
the  command  of  the  chief  mate,  sailed  for  Muckie,  to  take 
one  of  the  chiefs  of  that  place  to  Soosoo,  to  recover  his 
losses  and  part  of  the  opium,  which  the  Rajah  of  that  coun- 
try got  from  the  robbers.  These  he  refused  to  give  up. 

"  This  statement  contains  all  that  I  know,  and  which  I 
give  as  authentic. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  VAN  ISEGHEN. 

Captain  of  the  barque  1'Aglee  of  Nantes. 
Penang,  October  12th,  1838." 

"  A  true  copy, 

J.  REVELY, 

Consular  Agent  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
at  Prince  of  Wales'  Island." 

It  may  be  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  our  arrival  at 
Colombo  occurred  just  at  this  time,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  some  part  of  the  purposes  for  which  our  ships 
have  been  sent  into  these  seas.  We  have,  by  the  coinci- 
dence of  our  arrival  and  the  publication  of  the  preceding 
paper,  obtained  this  intelligence  four  days  after  our  reach- 
ing this  port ;  and  there  seems  so  much  probability  of  the 
truth  of  the  statement,  that  it  becomes  a  matter  of  inter- 
est that  the  squadron  should  be  prepared  for  the  exigencies 
that  may  occur,  and  that  the  ships  should  hasten  to  the 
ground  where  this  outrage  is  said  to  have  occurred.  And 
although  it  would  be  most  grateful  to  linger  here,  where 
the  hospitality  of  the  people  is  so  unbounded  and  cordial, 
and  at  a  moment  when  aquaintances  have  been  formed 
of  so  much  interest  as  to  make  us  greatly  wish  to  prolong 
that  acquaintance,  and  in  some  good  degree  to  reciprocate 
the  courtesies  which  have  been  received  from  the  residents 
on  shore,  yet  pleasure  always  should  yield  to  duty ;  or 
rather,  our  chief  pleasure  should  be  in  doing  our  duty, 
whatever  temporary  sacrifices  it  may  cost. 

22* 


258  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


On  Friday,  the  day  after  the  preceding  document  ap- 
peared in  the  Colombo  paper,  I  took  tiffin,  as  an  early  un- 
ceremonious dinner  is  called,  at  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bailey,  and  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh,  and 
one  of  the  Wesleyan  missionaries,  with  a  Mr.  S.,  and  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  English  navy.  I  had  purposed  to  spend 
the  evening  in  riding,  as  it  was  understood  that  we  would 
sail  on  the  morrow ;  and  expecting  a  longer  delay  at  Co- 
lombo, I  had  willingly  postponed  my  intended  drives  and 
some  additional  visits  on  shore  for  the  succeeding  week. 

After  partaking  of  this  no  unsubstantial  meal,  which 
here  corresponds  more  with  the  southern  snack  rather 
than  the  northern  lunch,  at  home,  Mr.  M.  proffered  to  take 
me  in  his  carriage  on  the  drive,  while  the  one  I  had  order- 
ed was  directed  to  follow. 

We  nearly  encircled  the  lake,  passing  through  the  cin- 
namon groves  which  lie  adjacent  to  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
and  finally  reached  a  prominent  position  occupied  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  M.  Here  we  gained  a  view,  which  on  a  clearer 
day  must  be  peculiarly  fine.  And  far  across,  on  the  lake, 
as  seen  on  this  showery  evening,  my  eye  rested  with  pleas- 
ure on  the  lovely  mansion  of  Sir  John  Wilson. 

Returning  to  the  town  with  my  cinnamon  boughs,  and 
various  leaves  of  various  plants,  I  drove  at  a  late  hour  to 
a  Moor-man's  shop,  to  complete  a  collection  of  superb  and 
curious  shells,  which  a  good  fortune  had  given  me  to  find, 
in  Colombo.  I  sat  for  some  time  with  Corin,  the  shell  mer- 
chant, who  has  his  shells  in  baskets,  piled  up  in  a  miserable 
hut,  like  almost  all  the  native  shops  of  the  bazaars  of  the 
East.  This  said  Corin,  the  Moorish  shell-merchant,  might 
be  of  some  convenience  to  those  who  may  follow  us,  with 
like  desires  of  my  own  to  make  a  collection  in  conchology. 
At  the  same  time,  it  will  always  be  advisable  for  the  pur- 
chaser to  be  careful  in  the  prices  he  offers.  Generally 
the  venders  in  shells,  and  in  all  other  things  in  the  East, 
will  take  half,  and  often  less  than  half  of  what  they  origi- 
nally ask.  It  is  a  confirmed  habit  with  them,  to  ask  double 
the  value  of  the  article  they  would  dispose  of,  and  were 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          259 

you  to  give  their  price  at  once,  you  probably  would  very 
much  astonish  them,  and  do  injustice  to  yourself. 

I  purchased  a  large  number  of  shells  from  Corin.  Two 
boxes  packed  with  taste,  and  others  in  baskets.  Ceylon 
is  evidently  the  best  place  in  the  East  for  making  a  collec- 
tion in  conchology. 

Several  men  took  my  boxes  and  baskets,  forming  a  little 
cavalcade,  to  the  customhouse,  for  the  night,  whence  they 
were  to  be  taken  off  to  the  ship  the  next  morning.  They 
made  their  appearance  accordingly ;  and  I  think  they 
will  gratify  the  eye  of  the  common  gazer,  on  their  reach- 
ing the  United  States  ;  while  the  duplicates  may  form  an 
acceptable  acquisition  to  any  cabinet  that  may  so  far 
secure  the  complacency  of  the  possessor,  as  to  induce  him 
to  make  half  the  collection  a  donation  to  it. 

On  Saturday  morning,  December  1st,  agreeably  to  in- 
vitation, his  Excellency,  lady  and  daughters,  and  others  of 
the  powers  that  are  of  the  Ceylon  Isle,  of  whose  hospitality 
the  Commodore  and  his  officers  had  been  the  recipients, 
came  off  to  the  Columbia,  to  breakfast.  It  would  have 
gratified  Commodore  Read,  to  have  given  a  very  general 
entertainment  before  he  left  the  Roads  of  Colombo,  and  in 
that  style,  which  would  have  evinced,  at  least,  the  desire  to 
please  the  generous  people  whom  he  had  met ;  and  more 
creditably,  than  was  now  in  his  power,  in  consequence  of 
his  sudden  departure,  to  have  reciprocated  on  board  his 
ship,  the  courtesies  which  he  had  received  on  shore.  And 
a  like  feeling  prompted  the  desires  of  the  officers  of  the 
ward-room.  But  the  only  practicable  thing,  in  the  time 
that  was  left,  was  to  manifest  to  his  Excellency  and  the 
authorities,  his  sense  of  their  politeness,  by  an  invitation  to 
breakfast — a  popular  meal,  according  to  the  custom  pre- 
vailing through  the  East,  and  borrowed  from  the  mother 
country ;  and  of  late  somewhat  introduced  into  our  own. 

The  Columbia's  boats  were  sent  to  the  shore  between 
the  hours  of  9  and  10  o'clock,  and  a  salute  in  compliment 
to  his  Excellency,  ere  long,  announced  his  arrival  on  board. 
The  breakfast  passed  off  with  apparent  pleasantness  to  the 
party — his  Excellency,  in  an  apt  and  pretty  speech  com- 
plimenting our  nation  and  expressing  his  happiness  to  have 
enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  meeting  with  our  Commodore 


260          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  his  officers,  and  desiring  prosperity  to  themselves  indi- 
vidually and  to  the  nation,  in  the  accomplishment  of  whose 
commissions  we  were  sailing. 

Commodore  Read,  deeming  himself  called  upon  by  the 
national  allusion  in  the  Governor's  remarks,  replied,  in 
equally  complimentary  terms  to  the  British  nation,  a  peo- 
ple, whom  we  not  only  more  than  respected,  but  to  whom 
we  gave  our  preference  among  the  nations  of  the  globe. 
The  courtesies  which  we  had  received  were  acknowledg- 
ed ;  and  with  cordial  sincerity  it  vyas  believed,  that  the 
interest  and  the  happiness  of  England  and  America  lay  in 
the  perpetuity  of  that  good-will  and  friendship  which  he 
knew,  so  far  as  the  feelings  of  Americans  were  concerned, 
now  to  exist  between  the  two  nations. 

The  ladies  seemed  pleased  with  the  ship  ;  and  it  would 
have  been  a  pretty  compliment  to  have  weighed  anchor, 
and  put  to  sea  for  a  few  miles,  favored  with  their  compa- 
ny, and  then  to  have  tacked  ship,  stood  in,  giving  them 
our  last  adieus,  as  the  ship  was  lying  aback  and  the  boats 
took  them  to  the  shore,  and  then  filled  away  again,  on  our 
bounding  track  of  the  boundless  seas.  As  it  was,  the  party 
left  the  ship  at  about  twelve  o'clock — the  yards  being 
manned  as  his  Excellency  left  the  deck  ;  and  the  crew,  in 
their  three  cheers,  bearing  to  his  ear  what  the  pulses  of 
our  own  hearts  would  have  conveyed  to  his,  that  we  left 
him  with  cordial  feelings  of  interest  for  his  welfare,  and 
due  appreciation  of  the  courtesies  we  had  received  during 
our  short  delay  at  the  spicy  isle. 

The  shades  of  the  night-fall  were  on  the  sea,  ere  many 
hours  more,  and  the  moonbeam  fell  again  upon  our  spread 
canvass,  bearing  us  on  our  course  to  the  yet  further  East. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  261 


SECTION   XL 

General  preparations  for  an  attack  on  the  Malays.  Ships  anchor  off  Anna, 
laboo,  island  of  Sumatra.  Sunset.  Ships  at  anchor  off  Kwala  Batu.  A 
Malay  comes  on  board  the  frigate.  Po  Adam  follows  him.  His  state- 
ment  of  the  murder  of  Captain  Wilkins  and  the  distribution  of  the  pro. 
perty  found  on  board  the  Eclipse.  Landing  of  the  first  boat  at  Kwala 
Batu,  for  a  talk  with  the  Rajah.  Instructions  to  Captain  Wyman.  Sec. 
ond  interview  and  talk.  Po  Nyah-heit.  A  beautiful  wild  buffalo.  Ma. 
lay  wit.  The  ships  prepare  for  action.  Cannonading  of  Kwala  Batu. 
Christmas  in  the  tropics.  Ships  sail  for  Muckie.  Boat  goes  ashore  for  a 
talk  with  the  Rajahs  of  Muckie.  News  from  home.  Things  are  valuable 
for  their  association.  Destruction  of  Muckie.  Captain  Wyman's  Report. 
Soo-Soo.  Po  Chute  Abdullah's  obligation  to  pay  two  thousand  dollars. 
Commodore  Read's  paper  to  the  Rajah.  Talk  with  the  Rajahs  of  Soo- 
Soo.  Pledge  of  the  Rajahs.  A  stroll.  Interview  at  Pulau  Kayu,  with 
Po  Kwala,  Pedir  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu.  Agreement,  and  the  scene  of 
affixing  the  seal  to  the  instrument.  Po  Kwala's  visit  to  the  frigate. 

WE  have  now  been  out  from  Colombo  for  five  days. 
In  view  of  the  possibility  and  probability  that  we  shall 
have  something  to  do,  ere  long,  with  the  Malays,  the  ship's 
crew,  in  their  different  divisions,  have  been  grinding  their 
cutlasses,  battle-axes,  pikes,  and  putting  their  guns  and 
pistols  in  order,  for  immediate  use. 

The  men  are  deemed  to  be  well  drilled  for  sailors;  and, 
as  sailor-soldiers,  doubtless  will  accomplish  any  thing  on 
ship-board  or  on  shore,  which  can  be  reasonably  expected 
from  them.  The  increased  probability,  however,  that  the 
services  of  a  detachment  from  the  ship  will  be  required, 
has  led  to  more  particular  exercise  with  the  small-arms 
since  we  left  Colombo.  The  target  has  been  rigged  out 
at  the  yard-arm,  for  the  men  to  practice  at,  with  their  fire- 
arms ;  and  another,  in  the  gangway,  for  improving  them 
in  pistol-shooting.  Every  preparation  is  made,  and  the 
ship  is  now  in  perfect  readiness  to  act  with  promptness, 
when  information  shall  have  been  obtained  in  connection 
with  the  affirmed  murder  and  robbery,  which  shall  render 
action  justifiable  and  obligatory. 

We  are  now  nearing  the  ground  of  the  murder  of  the 
crew  of  the  ship  Friendship,  some  few  years  since ;  and 
where  the  late  additional  scene  of  perfidy,  murder,  and 


262  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

robbery,  is  affirmed  to  have  taken  place.  Ere  long,  at 
least,  all  suspense  will  be  relieved  by  the  reality,  which 
must  soon  present  itself;  it  is  to  be  hoped,  however,  not 
at  the  expense  of  the  lives  of  any  of  the  officers  of  the 
Columbia  or  the  Adams.  But  no  one  on  board,  when 
necessity  and  propriety  direct,  will  be  found  one  moment 
to  hesitate,  even  critically  to  expose  his  life  in  the  ac- 
complishment of  duty  and  orders.  And  the  expedition, 
if  it  land,  will,  no  doubt,  be  conducted  with  judgment, 
and  most  certainly  with  no  lack  of  recklessness  and  cou- 
rage. Bravery  is  never  wanting  in  the  young  gentlemen 
or  older  ones  of  our  navy,  whenever  an  order  is  to  be 
executed ;  prudence  and  maturity  of  judgment  may  be, 
frequently.  In  all  that  relates  to  the  circumstances  of 
these  miserable  people,  and  the  safety  of  our  own  officers 
and  men,  in  the  event  of  a  landing  from  our  ships,  may 
a  merciful  as  well  as  a.  just  God  direct. 

The  John  Adams,  ahead  of  us,  signalized  to  the  Co- 
lumbia, at  meridian  to-day,  Dec.  19th,  that  she  saw  two 
vessels  anchored  in  shore,  which  we  soon  made  out  to  be 
on  our  larboard  beam.  We  are  now  off  Annalaboo,  island 
of  Sumatra.  The  Commodore  gave  an  order  for  the 
ships  to  stand  in  shore ;  and  having  done  so,  we  came  to 
anchor  within  some  five  or  six  miles  of  the  land,  near 
which  the  two  brigs  are  lying,  to  which  a  boat,  with  the 
First  Lieutenant,  has  been  despatched,  to  gain  all  the  in- 
formation possible  in  connection  with  the  affirmed  murder 
of  the  captain  and  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Eclipse,  and 
the  taking  of  her  money.  The  boat,  like  a  speck,  was 
seen,  and  scarcely  seen,  in  the  distance,  as  I  last  looked 
at  her,  nearing  the  largest  of  the  two  brigs,  whose  English 
colors  were  flying. 

I  watched  the  sun  as  it  went  down  to-night,  beneath 
the  rim  of  the  far-out  ocean.  How  often  have  I  thought 
of  home,  as  I  have  watched  the  beautiful  illumination  in 
the  west,  at  the  sunset  hour,  which  always  points  out  to 
me  where  the  land  of  my  home  lies,  in  its  distance  and 
blessedness  !  And  I  never  tire  in  gazing  at  the  sunset 
scene.  It  ever  awakens  feelings  that  make  me  happy, 
often  melancholy,  and  always  gathers  over  me  a  species 
of  the  serene  in  emotion.  How  beautiful !  how  glorious ' 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          263 

how  devotional !  It  seems  the  hour  of  nature's  evening 
worship.  There,  in  the  west,  she  lights  up  her  temple, 
every  eve.  How  gorgeous  are  those  spacious  vestibules, 
that  lead  into  her  garnished  inner  courts !  The  sapphire- 
pillars  stretch  themselves  in  endless  colonnades,  enclosing 
other  massive  and  gorgeous  shafts,  supporting  their  en- 
tablatures of  mammoth  emeralds,  with  frieze  and  cornice 
inlaid  of  pearl  and  amethyst,  and  on  which  are  resting  a 
hundred  golden  domes  !  And  the  lost  sun,  pouring  forth 
its  flood  of  glory  from  a  central  point  in  the  foreground, 
throws  up  from  the  evening's  golden  censer  her  oblation 
in  burning  incense,  as  it  tinges  the  fleecy  folds  of  the 
clouds  which  linger  over  the  scene  as  spirit- worshippers 
in  saffron,  and  carmine,  and  vermilion.  Who  could  not 
almost  become  a  Parsee  at  an  hour  so  beautiful,  and  fall 
before  the  setting  sun  and  worship  its  hallowing  glories  ? 

The  boat  has  returned  from  the  brig.  She  is  just  from 
Penang,  and  arrived  here  only  a  few  hours  before  us.  She 
had  learned  the  same  particulars  there,  which  we  received 
through  the  Colombo  paper,  as  extracted  from  the  Penang 
Gazette.  The  captain  is  acquainted  with  the  consular 
agent  at  Penang,  who  transacts  the  business  both  for  the 
French  and  American  vessels  at  Prince  of  Wales'  Island. 

The  captain  of  the  trader  has  been  on  this  coast  for 
fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  says  that  the  Malays  are 
treacherous  and  can  never  be  trusted.  He  invariably 
requires  that  their  arms  be  resigned  before  they  are  per- 
mitted to  come  on  board  his  vessel. 

We  get  under  way  at  about  three  o'clock  to-night, 
and  stand  on  our  course  to  Kwala  Batu,  where  we  expect 
to  be,  at  some  hour  of  the  day  to-morrow.  Things  look 
a  little  more  like  an  expedition  on  shore.  And  should  it 
be  found  that  the  Muckie  people  are  implicated  in  these 
treacherous  and  murderous  proceedings,  we  learn  that  our 
ships  can  lie  close  in  to  the  place,  and,  without  ceremony, 
batter  down  their  town,  a  thing  which  the  information 
obtained  may  require  to  be  done.  The  distance,  nor  time, 
can  be  very  long  before  our  position  and  action  will  de- 
cide. 


264  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


OFF    KWALA    BATU. 

We  have  come  to  an  anchor,  in  thirty  fathoms  of  water 
to-night,  December  20,  in  sight  of  the  lights  on  shore, 
which  we  take  for  Kwala  Batu. 

"  The  probabilities  seem  to  augment  a  little,  to-day, 
as  to  an  expedition  on  shore,  do  they  not  Mr.  T.  ?"  asks 
one  young  gentleman,  approaching  me  on  the  quarter- 
deck. 

"  Should  think  they  did,  while  it  yet  remains,  as  I  take 
it,  but  a  perhaps." 

"  The  plot  seems  to  be  deepening,  Mr.  T.."  adds  an- 
other, approaching  from  another  quarter. 

"  And  yet  the  fifth  act  may  be  wanting — at  least  it  is 
so  to  be  hoped,  so  far  as  it  may  involve  any  but  the 
guilty." 

The  ward-room  mess  have  gotten  nearly  out  of  "fresh 
grub,"  as  fresh  provisions  are  called  on  ship-board ;  and 
in  the  length  of  time  we  have  been  out,  we  are  now  re- 
duced to  "hard  tack,"  also  another  phrase  for  ship-biscuit, 
which  would  require  a  sledge-hammer  almost  to  break, 
at  least  that  quality  of  it  which  was  purchased  at  Bom- 
bay, having  nearly  exhausted  our  American  biscuit,  which 
was  quite  eatable  even  to  one  who  has  some  regard  for 
his  teeth,  in  comparison  with  the  flinty  substance  obtained 
at  Bombay. 

"  What  a  rush  there  will  be  for  the  hen-roost,"  adds  a 
third  gentleman,  with  a  little  spice  of  an  epicurean  in  his 
nature,  "when  we  shall  have  frightened  the  Malays  from 
their  bamboo  palaces !" 

The  mess-table  of  the  ward-room  has  been  well  sup- 
plied with  fresh  provisions,  nearly  the  whole  time  we 
have  been  from  the  U.  S.,  as  also  with  soft  bread,  newly 
baked,  for  each  day.  And  the  deprivation  of  fare  so  re- 
spectable and  acceptable  to  voyagers  so  many  days  at 
sea,  makes  a  small  interruption  to  such  things  observable, 
even  if  they  should  never  lead  to  unamiableness. 

The  tea-table  had  been  cleared,  when  one  of  the  Lieu- 
tenants called  for  a  glass  of  water,  and  had  spent  some 
time  in  vain  endeavor  to  take,  with  his  silver  trap,  three 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          265 

skippers,  which  were  sailing  deep  down  in  the  sea  of  his 
tumbler. 

"  Well,  my  nimble  fellows,  if  you  will  not  resign  your- 
selves complacently,  to  be  removed  to  other  quarters,  you 
must  enter  on  a  traverse  of  unknown  but  not  unfrequented 
coast  for  the  like  of  ye,"  said  the  Lieutenant,  with  a  very 
considerable  threat  that  the  three  skippers  should,  without 
much  further  ceremony,  be  submitted  to  the  chemical 
alternative  of  the  gastric  laboratory. 

"  And  there,  then,"  continued  the  officer,  on  re-examin- 
ing the  glass  after  a  moderate  sip  of  the  fluid,  "  one  of 
your  triad  seems  to  have  trailed  on  a  new  path  of  wilder- 
ness to  him." 

"  Thanks,  Mr.  skipper-destroyer,"  added  the  Lieuten- 
ant's neighbor,  "  for  your  benevolent  consideration  of 
the  public  good.  I  take  it,  that  same  small  draft  of  yours 
will  save  me  from  the  serenades  of  at  least  one  nearly-to- 
be-born  musqueto,  as  his  chrysalis  took  his  gauge  of  the 
vasty  deep." 

"  There  is  still  one  way  more  of  securing  the  remain- 
ing duet,"  continued  the  same  gentleman  as  he  dipped  his 
spoon  into  the  clear  water,  minus  the  two  remaining 
skippers. 

"  That  is  what  one  may  call  running  them  aground,  I 
suppose,"  added  another  neighbor,  at  his  end  of  the  table, 
seeing  the  water  diminishing  by  spoonfuls. 

A  silence  of  some  three  minutes,  (a  long  and  profound, 
for  a  ward-room  table,)  now  prevailed,  while  the  First 
Lieutenant  was  examining  the  external  coat  of  an  insect, 
which,  by  some  presumptuous  intrusion  had  presented 
himself  as  a  self-invited  guest,  or  had  boarded  us,  with 
unknown  malicious  intent,  from  the  Malay  coast.  "  Shall 
we  have  mercy  for  him  or  not  ?"  asked  the  tender-hearted 
officer. 

"  No  mercy,"  seemed  to  be  the  sentence  of  the  majority. 
Every  kind  of  insects  on  board  of  ships  have  no  quarters 
appropriated  to  them,  and,  therefore,  he  was  denied  both 
"  light  and  air." 

Another  silence  of  three  minutes  !  "  It  is  my  delibe- 
rate opinion,"  abruptly  added  the  surgeon,  "  that  they  are 
holding  a  town-meeting  on  shore  to-night." 

23 


266          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The  doctor's  supposition  seemed  to  be  a  very  sensible 
one,  to  which  all  assented,  with  the  expectation  of  hearing 
the  subjects  of  their  discussions  on  the  morrow.  And  this 
sketch  is  given  here,  merely  to  show  how  devoid  of  all 
sense  of  danger  or  feelings  of  solicitude  were  any  of 
the  officers  of  the  Columbia  on  this  eve,  preceding,  per- 
haps, a  morrow  which  shall  find  them  on  shore,  receiving 
the  shots  of  an  enemy.  And  this,  too,  after  the  discussion 
of  the  Dutch  expeditions,  the  first  and  second  of  which 
were  cut  off,  and  another  was  sent  to  engage  the  people, 
whose  town  is  now  lying  near  us,  with  the  loss  of  sixty 
or  seventy  of  their  number,  within  a  few  years  back. 

The  probability,  however,  of  an  expedition  going  to 
the  shore.  I  deem  to  be  involved  in  considerable  uncer- 
tainty, and  from  this  cause,  doubtless,  those  who  are  in- 
cluded in  the  detachment  to  be  sent  from  the  ship,  in 
case  the  exigency  requires  their  going  to  the  shore,  may 
feel  differently  from  what  might  be  the  case,  were  their 
landing  a  certainty.  But  were  the  shore  expedition  fixed 
upon,  as  a  thing  certainly  to  take  place,  no  particular 
anxiety,  even  then,  would  be  manifested.  So  profound 
is  the*  habit  of  military  life  and  of  naval  action,  where 
duty  and  orders  lead.  It  is,  with  them,  no  more  than  the 
laboring  man  going  to  his  daily  work,  and  the  professional 
one  to  his  speech,  with  the  agreeable  excitement  of  in- 
terest, rather  than  with  any  fear  or  anxiety. 

We  wait  until  daylight,  when  the  ships  again  get  under 
way,  to  stand  nearer  to  the  shore.  Ignorant  of  the  sound- 
ings, it  would  be  imprudent  to  put  further  in  for  the  night. 
The  further  action  of  the  ships  will  depend  on  the  infor- 
mation that  may  be  obtained. 

Our  ships  were  not  under  way  so  early  the  succeeding 
morning  as  was  anticipated,  owing  to  the  want  of  a  suffi- 
cient breeze  to  drive  our  vessels  through  the  water.  A 
canoe,  however,  ere  long  was  espied  in  the  distance, 
making  its  way  towards  the  Columbia.  On  reaching  our 
ship,  the  principal  Malay  came  over  her  side  and  reported 
that  he  had  been  sent  by  Po  ADAM,  who,  it  seems,  has 
made  out  our  vessels  aright.  The  Malay  stated  that  Po 
Adam  was  ready  to  come  on  board  if  the  Commodore 
desired  it.  He  also  confirmed  the  truth  of  the  reported 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


267 


murder  of  Captain  Wilkins  and  one  of  the  crew  of  the 
American  barque  Eclipse,  and  the  plundering  of  the  ves- 
sel. One  of  the  murderers,  he  affirmed,  was  now  at  Kwala 
Batu,  and  two  thousand  dollars  of  the  money  taken  from 
the  ship,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Rajah  there ;  others  of 
the  murderers  are  at  Soo-Soo,  and  others  at  Muckie,  and 
the  rest  of  the  money  had  been  distributed  among  the 
Rajahs  of  Muckie  and  Soo-Soo. 


Our  ships  having  stood  in  some  distance  with  the  fresh- 
ening  breeze,  another  canoe  was  seen  in  the  distance,  and 


268  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

m  a  short  time  Po  Adam's  self,  big  as  life,  came  over  the 
gangway,  with  a  cordial  expression  of  countenance,  as  if  he 
had  gotten  among  friends.  He  greeted  the  officers,  and 
was  re-greeted  by  them.  The  name  of  this  man  has  been 
very  favorably  heard  of,  as  one  who  rendered  effective 
assistance  to  Captain  Endicott  and  others  of  the  crew  of 
the  Friendship,  when  a  number  of  her  men  had  been  cut 
off,  and  to  whose  kindness  and  assistance  Captain  E.  thought 
he  owed,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  his  safety.  His  as- 
sistance contributed  to  his  support  and  comfort  after  they 
had  put  off  from  the  shore,  and  for  several  days  were  in 
the  small-boat  along  the  shore.  The  story  is  told  in  the 
narrative  of  the  voyage  of  the  Potomac,  so  as  to  produce 
a  favorable  impression  of  this  trusty  Malay,  if  the  word 
trusty, m  anyone  instance,  can  be  applied,  with  propriety, 
to  one  of  a  notoriously  treacherous  people. 

Po  Adam  repeated  what  he  had  directed  his  man  to 
communicate,  and  added  many  other  particulars,  and  rep- 
resented things  with  so  much  apparent  fidelity,  that  it  was 
decided  that  a  boat  should  be  sent  ashore  for  the  purpose 
of  gaining  an  interview  with  the  Rajah. 

FIRST    TALK    WITH    THE    RAJAH    OF    KWALA    BATU. 

The  officer  was  instructed  to  make  known  to  the  Rajah 
that  we  had  received  information  of  the  robbery  commit- 
ted on  board  of  the  Eclipse,  the  murder  of  her  captain  and 
one  of  her  crew — that  we  were  informed  that  one  of  the 
murderers  was  at  Kwala  Batu — that  we  had  come  with 
friendly  intentions,  and  wished  to  know  if  the  Rajah  will 
give  up  the  murderer,  which  it  is  expected  that  he  will  do, 
if  he  values  and  would  continue  to  value  the  friendship  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

Po  Adam  had  assured  Commodore  Read  that  the  persons 
of  the  officers  who  should  go  on  shore  would  be  safe,  and 
run  no  risk  in  visiting  the  Rajah  with  him.  But  as  all  the 
Malays  are  treacherous,  implicit  confidence  could  not  judi- 
ciously be  placed  in  this  man,  although  he  had  given  so 
conclusive  an  evidence  of  his  former  honesty.  Still,  as  the 
probabilities  were  so  preponderating  in  favor  of  Po  Adam's 
statements  and  trusty  character,  the  Commodore  deemed 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  269 

the  risk  to  be  small,  in  sending  a  boat  in,  and  did  so  ac- 
cordingly. 

The  boat  started  from  the  ship  with  Lieutenants  Farmer 
and  Pennock,and  Lieutenant  Baker  of  the  marines,  accom- 
panied by  Po  Adam  and  one  of  our  sailors,  who  has  some 
familiarity  with  the  Malay  language,  as  an  interpreter. 

The  hour  had  already  advanced  towards  evening,  and 
the  boat  neared  the  beach  only  a  short  time  before  sundown. 
If  there  had  been  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  sending  a 
boat  ashore  before  it  left  the  ship,  the  officers'  suspicions 
were  now  but  little  allayed,  as  they  saw  the  shore  lined 
by  more  than  a  hundred  armed  Malays,  who  had  unsheath- 
ed their  weapons  and  wielded  them  above  their  heads,  as 
the  officers  supposed,  with  an  attitude  of  defiance.  It  was 
the  same  movement  among  these  treacherous  natives 
which  had  prevented  the  boat's  crew  of  the  Potomac  from 
landing,  when  that  frigate  was  on  the  coast,  to  punish 
these  same  people  for  their  treachery  towards  the  crew  of 
the  Friendship.  But  notwithstanding  every  dark-skinned 
and  frowning-faced  Sumatrian  raised  each  his  kris,  a  wea- 
pon of  fearful  association  in  connection  with  their  treach- 
ery, to  the  number  of  a  hundred  glaring  blades,  with  nearly 
as  many  more  small  daggers  in  their  girdles,  the  boat  was 
driven  boldly  upon  the  beach,  and  the  three  officers  jump- 
ed, without  hesitation,  into  the  midst  of  this  wild  and  armed 
multitude,  who  immediately  surrounded  them  as  they 
walked- up  the  beach,  and  entered  the  pass  to  the  Rajah's 
fort.  As  they  were  moving  on  with  the  armed  crowd,  Po 
Adam  seemed  not  unfrequently  to  laugh  unnaturally  loud, 
as  he  talked  with  the  crowd,  which  pressed  on  even  against 
his  apparent  remonstrance.  And  when  they  passed  the 
furthest  stockade,  through  a  gate  that  opened  into  another, 
which  contained  the  bamboo  palace  of  the  Rajah,  they 
found  the  chief  upon  an  elevated  stand,  presenting  a  per- 
son of  a  larger  frame  and  of  finer  proportions  than  had 
been  seen  among  his  retainers,  or  the  mob  upon  whom  the 
gate  had  now  been  shut,  while  numbers  had  managed  to 
throw  themselves  into  the  enclosure  before  the  passage 
had  been  closed. 

The  greeting  passed,  and  Po  Adam  manifested  great  re- 
spect and  considerable  ceremony  towards  the  Rajah;  when 

23* 


270          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

it  was  indicated  that  a  talk  with  the  chief  was  desired,  to 
communicate  the  Commodore's  sentiments  through  the 
officers  from  the  Columbia.  The  Rajah,  unwilling  that 
this  talk  should  proceed  in  so  open  a  position,  led  the  way 
to  his  adjacent  council-chamber,  into  which  only  one  of  his 
friends  was  admitted,  while  the  conversation  was  carried 
on  in  a  whisper. 

"  It  would  be  something  of  a  difficult  matter  for  them 
to  board  us  here,"  said  Moses,  with  a  slight  squinting  of  his 
eye,  which  at  once  took  in  the  bearings  and  defences  of 
the  room. 

Moses,  one  of  the  quarter-masters,  had  followed  the  offi- 
cers, with  two  pistols  in  his  belt  and  a  cutlass  at  his  side, 
giving  him,  in  spite  of  his  amiable  phiz,  something  of  a 
ucaneer-rake,  in  the  favoring  shades  of  the  night,  which 
had  now  advanced  upon  them. 

The  party  seated  themselves  for  the  talk,  some  with  the 
apprehension  of  receiving  a  slight  piece  of  steel  through 
their  ribs  before  they  were  done  with  it ;  and  that  no  such 
inconvenient  weapon  might  reach  them  through  the  bam- 
boo floor,  which  their  imagination  had  constructed  for  them, 
some  of  their  number,  by  a  species  of  intuition,  placed 
themselves  above  a  sleeper,  or  leaned  against  a  stanchion, 
or  other  more  solid  piece  of  material  than  a  bamboo  mat- 
ting. They  had  heard  of  the  Malays  finding  the  life-blood 
of  their  enemies  through  the  slight  partitions  of  bamboo, 
or  matted  walls  of  cane,  or  other  light  material,  of  which 
they  construct  their  buildings. 

But  the  talk  was  over,  and  with  all  the  excitement  of 
awakened  imaginations,  the  known  treachery  of  these  peo- 
ple, and  the  scene  through  which  they  had  moved  from  the 
beach,  full  before  them,  the  officers  left  the  Rajah,  and  made 
their  way  back  again  for  the  boat,  anticipating  the  same 
crowd  to  be  around  their  path.  But  they  wound  through 
the  several  passes,  finally  reached  the  open  beach,  and  to 
their  own  surprise,  with  the  certainty  that  their  heads  were 
on  and  their  sides  unriddled,  they  entered  the  boat,  but 
not  without  a  drenching  from  the  high  breakers  which  were 
rolling  in,  through  which  they  had  to  pass  to  reach  the  cut- 
ter, which  was  lying  moored  a  short  distance  from  the 
shore,  to  save  her  from  thumping  in  the  surf.  The  party 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  271 

having  returned  to  the  ship,  expressed  themselves  as  hav- 
ing passed  through  one  of  the  most  exciting  scenes,  in  view 
of  the  known  treachery  of  the  Malay  character,  their  own 
helpless  situation,  and  the  unknown  disposition  of  the  mass 
of  the  Malays  who  surrounded  them.  But  the  Rajah  was 
sufficiently  courteous  to  them,  and  the  result  of  the  con- 
ference was,  that  he  would,  during  the  night,  send  his  men 
and  take  and  confine  the  murderer,  now  at  Kwala  Batu, 
and  he  should  be  delivered  up  to-morrow. 

Po  Adam  returned  with  the  officers,  and  seemed  to  think 
that  the  Rajah  was  sincere  in  his  intentions  to  take  the  man 
now  at  Kwala  Batu,  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  rob- 
bery and  murder  committed  on  board  the  ship  Eclipse. 

The  Rajah  denied  nothing  in  connection  with  this  man 
and  the  transaction  ;  but  consented  to  the  truth  of  the  oc- 
currence and  the  fact  of  one  of  the  murderers  being  in  his 
town,  by  affirming  that  he  would  use  every  effort  during 
the  night  to  take  him,  that  he  might,  on  the  morrow,  be 
delivered  up  as  demanded. 

As  Po  Adam  was  going  over  the  side  of  the  ship  to  enter 
the  Columbia's  boat,  for  the  shore  excursion  already  de- 
scribed, he  was  in  considerable  good  cheer  ;  and  left  as 
hostages,  to  assure  us  of  his  fidelity,  the  men  who  had  come 
off  with  him  in  his  canoe.  When  he  had  mounted  to  the 
top  of  the  steps  of  the  gangway,  he  turned  round,  seeming 
to  catch  the  spirit  of  the  officers  and  the  crew,  who  were 
looking  upon  him  ;  and  with  a  cunning  laugh  and  shake 
of  his  little  hand,  he  added,  in  his  broken  English,  "Neber 
you  fear — me  come  again — look  sharp  /"  The  last  expres- 
sion had  reference  to  the  four  Malays  he  left  on  board ;  and 
Po  Adam's  whole  expression  of  face  and  person,  and  sig- 
nificant and  broken  English,  caused  the  officers  and  men, 
for  once,  to  forget  their  gravity  ;  and  to  Po's  no  little  de- 
light, a  general  smile  passed  over  the  countenances  of  the 
more  than  a  hundred  faces  which  were,  at  the  moment, 
gazing  upon  him. 

It  was  believed,  notwithstanding  the  professions  of  the 
Rajah,  that  he  would  not  make  any  particular  effort  during 
the  night  to  take  the  murderer  whom  he  had  protected,  and 
with  whom  we  have  every  reason  to  suppose  he  shared 
the  money,  to  the  amount  of  two  thousand  dollars. 


272  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


SECOND    TALK    WITH    THE    RAJAH. 

It  was  therefore  the  wish  of  the  Commodore  to  let  this 
Rajah  know  at  once  what  was  expected  of  him,  and  on  what 
he  should  insist.  He  accordingly  made  out  the  following 
instructions  to  Captain  Wyman,  of  the  John  Adams,  now 
lying  near  us : 

«  SIR  :— 

"  You  will  call  upon  the  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  and  in- 
form him  what  we  have  learned  at  Ceylon  and  other  places 
respecting  the  attack  and  plunder  of  the  ship  Eclipse,  and 
the  murder  of  Captain  Wilkins  and  one  of  his  crew. 

"  You  will  make  known  to  him  that  it  is  the  desire  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  remain  at  peace 
and  on  terms  of  friendship  with  the  chiefs  and  people  of 
Sumatra ;  that  we  have  come  to  the  island  as  friends,  and 
hope  that  we  shall  be  enabled  to  leave  Kwala  Batu  in  the 
continuance  of  the  same  sentiments.  But  this  must  depend 
upon  the  readiness  which  shall  be  evinced  by  the  Rajah 
to  give  up  one  of  the  murderers  of  Captain  Wilkins,  who, 
having  taken  refuge  in  Kwala  Batu,  has  been  protected 
by  the  Rajah. 

"  You  are  also  instructed  to  demand  all  the  money  and 
any  other  property  which  the  murderer  brought  with  him 
to  this  place,  and  is  known  to  be  part  of  the  plunder  of 
the  ship  Eclipse. 

"  You  will  endeavor  to  make  the  Rajah  explicit,  by  in- 
quiring of  him  what  course  he  means  to  take  ;  whether 
that  of  a  friend  or  an  enemy.  If  a  friend,  he  will  at  once 
give  up  this  murderer ;  and  cause  the  money  and  other 
property  taken  from  the  ship  Eclipse  and  may  now  be 
found  at  Kwala  Batu,  immediately  to  be  returned,  through 
me,  to  the  proper  owners. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  GEORGE  C.  READ, 
"  Commanding  the  U.  S.  Naval  Force  in  the  Indian  Seas. 

"  To  Commander  THOMAS  W.  WYMAN, 

U.  S.  Ship  John  Adams." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  273 

Captain  Wyman  was  accompanied  to  the  shore  by  two 
or  three  of  his  officers,  and  three  from  our  own  ship.  It 
was  yet  a  matter  of  doubt  what  might  be  the  reception  of 
our  boats.  The  threatening  appearances  of  the  preceding 
evening,  and  the  possibility  that  the  Rajah  was  using  a 
finesse  for  delaying  our  action ;  and  the  possibility,  too, 
that  even  Po  Adam  might  be  playing  his  game,  and  be 
implicated  in  the  transactions  which  related  to  the  money, 
rendered  many  things  suspicious  ;  for  Po  Adam  seemed 
hand  and  glove  with  the  people  on  shore,  and  yet,  when 
away  from  them,  was  obviously  concerting  their  overthrow 
and  destruction.  There  was,  however,  but  little  solicitude 
felt  by  those  officers  who  were  conveyed  to  the  shore. 

The  boats  nearly  reached  the  beach,  when  the  grap- 
nels were  dropped,  and  the  officers  conveyed  through  the 
breakers  to  the  shore,  on  the  trusty  shoulders  of  the  ever- 
obedient  and  ever  ready  tar.  The  Malays,  to  the  apparent 
number  of  fifty  or  sixty,  were  on  the  beach  as  before,  while 
their  weapons  now  were  mostly  in  their  sheaths.  We  ad- 
vanced, however,  without  solicitude,  through  a  narrow 
passage-way,  stockaded  on  either  side,  leading  to  an  area 
lined,  like  itself,  by  a  stockade  of  bamboo.  Passing  through 
this  enclosure,  we  entered  a  gate-way  that  opened  into 
yet  another  stockaded  enclosure,  which  contained  the  bam- 
boo dwelling  of  the  Malay  Chief.  We  found  the  Rajah, 
as  he  was  found  the  evening  before,  elevated  upon  his 
bamboo  throne  of  state.  He^welcome  us  by  rising,  and 
with  a  shake  of  the  hand — the  latter  action  requiring  his 
chieftainship  to  bend  forward  and  downward,  to  receive 
the  proffered  emblem  of  friendship — while  his  position  was 
such,  that  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  an  enemy  to  have 
reached  his  bosom  unobserved  (a  la  Malay)  with  one  of 
their  stealthy  weapons.  I  further  remarked,  at  the  moment, 
that  a  gate-way  leading  directly  to  the  Rajah's  fort,  was 
behind  the  elevated  position  on  which  the  chieftain  had 
placed  himself,  affording  him  a  retreat,  in  case  of  necessity, 
to  his  fortress  ;  as  in  olden  times  the  Baron,  when  endan- 
gered in  his  castle,  escaped  for  his  safety  through  some 
secret  trap-door,  giving  him  access  to  some  concealed 
passage-way,  by  which  to  elude  his  enemies. 

So  soon  as  the  greeting  was  over,  Captain  Wyman 


274  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

signified  that  he  had  been  instructed  by  the  Commodore 
to  wait  on  the  Rajah,  to  have  a  talk  with  him  ;  and  signi- 
fied that  he  would  proceed  to  make  known  his  instructions 
if  the  Rajah  was  ready  to  hear  him. 

The  Rajah  motioned  that  he  would  adjourn  to  the  ve- 
randah of  his  house,  which  serves  as  his  council-chamber. 
We  ascended  to  this  apartment  by  a  flight  of  steps,  con- 
structed as  a  common  ladder,  with  the  exception  of  the 
rounds,  which  in  this  instance  gave  place  for  wider  mate- 
rials for  the  cross-pieces.  We  entered  this  balcony-kind 
of  a  room,  the  floor  of  which  was  carpeted  with  matting. 
A  few  considerably  worn  Persian  rugs,  with  some  fresher- 
made  mats,  had  been  placed  for  the  guests  to  sit  upon. 
Two  seats  also  were  arranged  in  the  verandah,  one  a  back- 
less chair,  the  other  a  chair  with  a  back,  which  Captain 
W.  and  myself  occupied  ;  while  others  placed  themselves, 
a  la  Turk,  upon  the  mats,  or  sat  on  the  balustrade — the 
open  side  of  the  room  looking  directly  over  the  Rajah's 
fort,  towards  the  sea.  The  Rajah  placed  himself  upon  a 
mat  furthest  possible  in  a  corner,  to  which  spot  the  chairs 
were  drawn,  and  around  sat  the  officers,  with  Po  Adam 
and  the  sailor,  who  served  as  our  interpreters,  on  their 
haunches  near  the  Rajah. 

But  previous  to  the  entrance  upon  the  subjects  which 
Captain  Wyman  was  instructed  definitely  to  bring  before 
the  Rajah,  a  silence  of  a  considerable  length  continued  ; 
while  twenty  men,  more  or  less,  of  the  Rajah's  retainers, 
were  collecting  cocoa-nuts,  fresh  from  the  surrounding 
trees.  These  they  brought  to  the  foot  of  the  ladder  be- 
low, and  with  their  krises,  a  long-bladed  weapon,  they  cut 
off  the  outer  part  of  each  end,  and  opened  a  small  vent 
through  the  soft  material  with  the  point  of  the  instrument, 
and  presented  one  to  each  of  the  officers,  to  drink  of  the 
delicious  beverage.  This  is  apparently  the  universal  cus- 
tom of  the  Rajahs  here,  as  a  prelude  to  the  commencement 
of  a  council  talk. 

The  Rajah  now  untied  his  knotted  handkerchief,  in 
which  he  carried  several  small  cases,  filled  with  various 
articles  which  contribute  to  the  luxury  of  his  taste  ;  and  to 
each  corner  of  the  handkerchief  was  attached  a  gold  nob, 
both  for  ornament  and  that  the  tie  might  more  conve- 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          275 

niently  be  made.  The  Rajah  first  opened  a  silver  case, 
from  which  he  took  a  bundle  of  green  beetel  leaves,  put  up 
in  a  convenient  form  for  him  to  make  a  selection.  He 
next  opened  a  golden  box,  from  which  he  took  a  substance 
of  the  consistency  of  cream,  being  a  mixture  of  lime,  and 
spread  it  entirely  over  the  leaf.  He  then  placed  within 
the  leaf  thus  prepared,  a  compound  make  up  of  various 
materials,  spice,  opium,  aracca-nut,  a  little  tobacco,  etc.  ; 
and  seemed,  like  his  kindred  skins  about  him  of  similar 
tastes,  to  be  much  delighted  with  his  cud — quite  as  re- 
spectable at  least,  in  its  appearance,  as  those  which  often 
grace  to  the  disgrace  of  the  mouths  of  many  American 
gentlemen. 

The  cocoa-nut  beverage  having  been  drunk,  to  the 
content  of  all,  the  council  was  deemed  to  be  regularly 
opened  according  to  custom.  Captain  Wyman  stated  that 
we  had  heard  of  the  robbery  and  murder  committed,  and 
desired  to  know  if  the  murderer  had  been  taken,  as  the 
Rajah  had  given  us  to  suppose  would  be  the  case,  last 
night. 

The  Rajah  replied  that  he  had  been  unable  to  take  the 
Malay — that  he  had  endeavored  to  seize  him — had  sent 
fifty  men  to  accomplish  it — but  he  had  not  been  appre- 
hended, as  it  was  hoped  would  be  the  case.  He  had,  how- 
ever, despatched  his  men,  with  letters  around  the  country, 
with  the  intention  of  yet  taking  him  ;  and  he  should  be 
delivered  up  as  soon  as  he  could  be  found. 

This  was  all  as  we  had  anticipated. 

The  Rajah  was  then  told,  that  it  had  been  reported 
that  two  thousand  dollars  of  the  money,  taken  from  the 
Eclipse,  had  been  brought  to  Kwala  Batu  ;  and  that  it 
was  expected  that  this,  with  any  other  property  known  to 
have  been  taken  from  the  Eclipse,  should  be  returned. 

The  Rajah  said  that  the  money  had  been  distributed,  in 
small  quantities,  to  the  people — he  never  had  any  thing 
to  do  with  it — he  had  refused  to  receive  any  of  it — and 
he  knew  nothing  about  it — and  was  unable  to  do  any 
thing  about  it. 

Here,  one  of  the  sub-men  suggested  that  some  of  it  had 
been  buried,  and  could  not  be  found.  The  statement  was 
entirely  unsatisfactory  and  somewhat  contradictory  ;  but 


276  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

even  on  the  statement  of  the  Rajah  himself,  the  people  of 
his  town  were  responsible,  and  therefore  Kwala  Batu  has 
become  implicated  in  the  outrage. 

Nothing  being  gained  at  all  satisfactory  in  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  talk,  the  Rajah  was  again  assured  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  was  desirous  of  preserv- 
ing a  friendly  intercourse  with  Kwala  Batu,  but  that  it 
would  depend  upon  the  Rajah's  action  whether  the  United 
States  and  himself  were  to  continue  friends.  If  the  mur- 
derer and  the  property  were  brought  on  board  the  Colum- 
bia, by  sundown  that  evening,  the  good  feeling  which 
the  United  States  desired  to  preserve  towards  the  Rajah 
would  continue.  But  if  the  murderer  could  not  be  taken 
by  that  time,  a  deputation  from  the  Rajah  of  one  or  more 
men,  (to  whom  Captain  Wyman  gave  the  assurances  of 
safety.)  would  be  expected  to  make  known  to  the  Com- 
modore the  reason  of  the  delay ;  and  the  Rajah's  good  or 
ill  will  would  be  judged  of  accordingly. 

The  Rajah  himself  had  been  invited  to  visit  the  Colum- 
bia, to  talk  with  the  Commodore,  but  he  declined  visiting 
the  ship,  giving  an  implied  assurance,  though  hesitatingly 
expressed,  that  a  message  should  be  sent  off  by  night,  if 
the  murderer  was  not  taken. 

The  interview  was  here  concluded.  Gaining  the  con- 
sent of  the  Rajah,  we  walked  through  the  town,  hastily, 
and  along  the  beach.  I  had  been  left  some  distance  behind 
the  party,  while  examining  some  of  the  houses,  and  was 
repeatedly  among  twenty  or  thirty  of  these  armed  and 
treacherous  men,  asking  questions  of  some  of  them,  and 
giving  others  a  brief  reply,  which  several  of  them,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  caught  up  and  repeated,  as  a  word  of  a  lan- 
guage peculiar  in  its  sound  to  their  ears.  They  rang  their 
changes  on  the  word  "  yes,"  "  yes,"  to  the  considerable 
amusement  of  the  crowd,  which  was  gathering  around  me 
as  I  passed  along  the  bazaar ;  and  without  waiting  for 
many  moments  to  pass,  while  out  of  sight  of  the  other  offi- 
cers, I  hastened  along  the  little  winding  river  on  the  east 
side  of  the  town,  and  then  wound  to  the  right  along  the 
beach.  Captain  Wyman  and  two  of  the  officers  had  al- 
ready wandered  along  the  shore,  to  gain  a  view  of  the  fort 
which  flanks  the  town  on  the  west ;  and  as  I  was  ad  van- 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          277 

cing  along  the  same  course,  far  behind  them  and  near  to 
the  edge  of  the  jungle,  I  came  upon  thirty  or  forty  men, 
gathered  under  a  tree  by  themselves.  The  chief  came 
towards  me  as  I  approached.  He  was  the  best  dressed 
man  I  had  seen. 

"  Come,"  said  he,  "  let  you  and  me  have  a  talk ;"  his 
men  gathering  around  me  at  the  same  time. 

"  Very  well,"  I  replied,  "  and  what  would  you  say  ?" 

I  had  observed  this  same  man  in  the  council,  but  he  did 
not  appear  to  share  the  confidence  of  the  Rajah.  And 
before  the  interview  in  the  council  was  over,  this  same 
chief  rose,  with  a  number  of  his  followers  with  him,  and 
left  the  verandah. 

"  Me  belong  to  another  king,"  he  continued.  "  This 
one  king  here — there,  (pointing  to  the  interior,)  another 
king.  Me  no  fraid  to  go  board  ship.  Me  done  nothing — 
me  no  fight  when  Potomac  here.  Me  want  to  make 
present  of  buffalo  to  Commodore  and  be  friends." 

I  told  this  Malay,  who  is  the  son-in-law  of  a  rich  Rajah, 
said  to  have  more  men  than  any  other  chief  of  the  island, 
in  this  region,  that  I  presumed  the  Commodore  could  not 
receive  his  buffalo,  but  that  he  must  come  on  board  and 
see  him. 

"  Me  want  to  give  him  a  buffalo,  and  be  friends.  Me 
take  you  to  my  house  and  show  you  buffalo." 

I  followed  the  chief,  whose  name  is  Po  Nyah-heit,  with 
his  men  attending  him,  with  their  weapons  ;  and  soon  we 
entered  his  fort,  some  distance  in  the  jungle,  which  in- 
cludes an  area  of  some  extent,  with  the  tall  bamboos  and 
other  trees  embowering  the  romantic  spot.  The  gate 
was  firmer  and  in  better  repair  than  I  had  elsewhere 
seen.  And  there  stood  the  beautiful,  and  young,  and 
wild  buffalo,  with  a  string  through  his  nostrils,  and  a  rope 
around  his  horns  and  his  legs,  tying  him  to  three  or  four 
trees  before  and  behind  him.  I  saw,  from  his  eye,  that 
he  was  wild,  and  requested  that  one  of  Po  Nyah-heifs 
men  should  approach  him.  As  the  man  advanced,  the 
young  and  sleek  animal  snorted  and  shook  his  head  and 
rolled  his  brilliant  eye,  and  bounded  up  and  down  as  far 
as  the  ropes  would  allow  him.  He  was  a  beautiful  crea- 
ture, as  fat  as  a  well-stalled  ox,  but  like  a  sleek-limbed 

24 


278  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

two  year  old  heifer,  petted  and  rendered  a  prize  specimen 
for  the  city  market.  I  should  like  to  have  owned  that 
beast,  could  it  have  remained  as  beautiful  a  thing  as  I 
then  saw  it,  and  would  have  tamely  coursed  the  fields  as 
a  petted  animal. 

I  did  not  choose  longer  to  delay  in  so  wild  a  place, 
surrounded  by  so  wild  a  multitude,  out  of  sight,  and  re- 
moved from  any  communication  with  our  party.  I  there- 
fore again  invited  Po  Nyah-heit  to  come  off  to  the  Colum- 
bia, and  tender  his  buffalo  himself  to  the  Commodore,  and 
talk  with  him. 

On  communicating  this  interview  to  Captain  Wyman, 
he  proposed  to  take  Po  Nyah-heit  off  in  the  boats  with 
us,  if  he  would  go.  The  principal  Rajah  himself  had  re- 
fused to  visit  our  ship,  and  hesitated  about  promising  to 
send  any  communication ;  and  it  was  in  view  of  this 
timidity  and  hesitation  on  the  part  of  the  Rajah,  in  the 
council,  that  he  said  he  was  not  afraid  to  go — he  was 
innocent — and  on  being  asked  by  Captain  W.  if  he  would 
like  to  accompany  us  to  the  ship,  immediately  consented ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  I  secured  the  assurance,  that  his 
person  should  be  safe,  and  himself  allowed  to  return  to 
the  shore  at  his  pleasure. 

After  having  reached  the  ship  I  had  a  conversation  with 
this  Malay.  He  assured  us  that  the  present  Rajah  of 
Kwala  Batu  had  received  the  two  thousand  dollars,  and 
that  he  would  never  take  the  murderer.  He  also  added, 
that,  in  case  of  difficulties,  he  wished  to  come  on  board 
with  his  family  and  property. 

"  And  what  would  you  do  with  yourself,  after  we  shall 
have  destroyed  the  town, "  he  was  asked,  "  should  that 
be  our  final  purpose  ?" 

"  I  return,  then,  and  be  the  Rajah,"  replied  the  wily 
Malay  ;  "  I  get  my  men  around  me — I  new  Rajah — I  be 
friend  to  America." 

From  what  Po  Adam  said  of  this  Malay,  after  he  had 
returned  to  the  shore,  there  is  great  probability  that  his 
scheme  might  succeed,  if  he  could  get  but  a  little  assist- 
ance from  us.  He  offered  his  fort  for  our  forces,  and 
proposed  to  meet  our  men  on  the  beach,  when  they  should 
accompany  him  and  his  retainers  to  his  fort,  fight  from  it, 
and  defend  his  house. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  279 

But,  unlike  the  policy  of  other  nations,  ours  is  not  to 
interfere  with  the  petty  contentions,  or  larger  broils  of  a 
different  people.  It  would  be  an  easy  thing  for  the  Amer- 
icans to  set  up  a  Rajah  here,  and  maintain  him,  at  a  little 
expense,  in  his  position,  for  our  advantage.  But  such  a 
course  would  deviate  from  our  fixed  policy  as  a  nation, 
and  eventuate,  as  a  deviation  from  our  independent  and 
neutral  course,  to  the  injury  of  the  greatest  good  of  our 
Government.  And  yet,  when  one  looks  upon  this  beau- 
tiful island,  as  it  now  lies  before  us  in  its  luxuriant  green, 
the  mountain-side  entirely  embowered  in  beautiful  and 
full  foliage  of  the  trees  and  vegetation,  without  a  barren 
spot,  one  could  wish  it  were  in  the  hands  of  an  American 
colony,  and  its  resources  developed  by  American  industry. 
But  our  home  and  land  are  far  beyond  these  waters,  and 
there  are  happiness  and  riches  enough  for  us  at  home,  if 
we  will  but  husband  them,  with  gratitude  to  the  God  who 
has  given  us  so  goodly  a  heritage.  Po  Nyah-heit  was 
assured,  that  if  he  came  aboard  the  Columbia  with  his 
family,  he  would  be  permitted  to  remain  in  safety  during 
any  difficulties  that  were  being  adjusted  between  our  ships 
and  the  town  of  Kwala  Batu,  without  any  promise  of 
protection  or  discrimination  as  to  localities  or  persons  on 
shore.  No  other  course  could  well  have  been  pursued 
with  this  man,  as  he  was  no  further  known  than  he  had 
made  himself  to  be  during  the  day ;  and  while  there  ap- 
peared to  be  honesty  and  certainly  ambition  in  his  make 
and  purposes,  there  might,  for  all  we  knew,  be  deep 
treachery,  though  I  believed  otherwise. 

Po  Nyah-heit  left  the  ship,  as  he  had  been  promised  he 
should,  at  the  hour  he  wished,  which  was  near  sunset. 

In  the  evening  Po  Adam  was  at  the  mess-table,  while 
one  of  the  Lieutenants  read  the  account  given  of  his  gen- 
erous action  towards  the  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Friend- 
ship, who  were  not  massacred.  To  him  they  gave  the 
credit  of  contributing  to  their  safety,  if  he  was  not  the 
means  of  preserving  their  lives. 

Po  seems  to  be  desirous  of  having  all  the  towns  along 
the  coast  blown  sky  high.  He  has  lost  his  own  fort  by 
some  crook  of  a  mightier  hand,  or  by  mightier  men  than 
he.  And,  doubtless,  he  would  be  very  grateful  to  the 


280  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Commodore,  would  he  restore  it  to  him  again.  And  were 
it  a  consistent  movement  of  our  ships,  perhaps  Po  Adam 
deserves  this,  and  much  more  at  our  hands.  His  house  is 
at  Soo-Soo,  which  is  in  sight  of  our  ships,  some  four  or 
six  miles  east  of  Kwala  Batu. 

"  Do  you  like  the  Soo-Soo  people,  Po  1" 

"  Me  like  them  here,"  answered  the  wily  Malay,  put- 
ting his  finger  upon  his  lips,  "  but  no  like  them  here," 
laying  his  spread  hands  upon  his  breast. 

"  But,  Po,  if  there  is  much  property  in  Kwala  Batu,  and 
the  Rajah  would  preserve  his  houses,  do  you  think  he 
would  rather  pay  up  the  two  thousand  dollars  than  have 
his  place  knocked  down  ?" 

"  Rajah  is  fool.  He  give  up  murderer — he  give  mo- 
ney— then  he  save  pepper-trade.  What  can  Rajah  do 
with  pepper — no  ships  come  and  buy  ?  He  no  eat  pep- 
per. He  give  up  murderer,  he  have  plenty  friends  in 
America — they  come  and  buy  pepper.  But  he  will  no 
give  up  Malay u — he  fool — he  d — n  rascal — he  buffalo  !" 

"  Why,  Po,  we  think  the  Rajah  a  very  bad  man,  but  do 
not  call  him  by  one  of  those  names  you  have  used." 

Po  understood  the  allusion,  and  repeated,  "  He  bad 
man — he  no  give  up  money — me  thought  he  sincere  yes- 
terday, no  sincere  to-day — he  no  send  fifty  men  after 
Malayu.  I  Rajah,  I  catch  the  man — Rajah  no  sincere — 
he  fool — he  d — ,  he  one  buffalo." 

Po  now  had  more  than  one  to  join  him  in  a  round  laugh, 
at  the  flow  of  his  Malay  wit. 

I  say  Malay  wit.  Po,  however,  says  that  he  was  born 
at  Achin,  and  has  spent  twenty-five  years  on  the  coast  in 
this  region.  He  is  now  about  fifty  years  of  age,  has  a 
very  good  face,  an  aquiline  nose,  and,  at  times,  has  a 
great  deal  of  vivacity  in  speech.  With  his  mimic  atti- 
tudes, to  render  himself  more  readily  understood  in  Eng- 
lish, he  often  becomes  quite  amusing. 

CANNONADING    OF    KWALA    BATU. 

All  expectation  of  gaining  any  satisfactory  action  from 
the  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu  being  given  up,  the  Columbia 
weighed  anchors  to  take  a  nearer  position  to  the  town, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  281 

that  her  guns  might  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  forts  and 
houses  with  the  greatest  effect.  Having  reached  the  de- 
sired position,  a  spring  hawser  brought  our  broadside  to 
bear,  at  discretion,  upon  the  forts  and  town. 

The  John  Adams  was  now  seen  standing  in  to  take 
her  place  yet  nearer  to  the  shore  and  a  little  on  our  lar- 
board quarter. 

All  things  were  now  ready  for  cannonading  the  forts 
and  town.  We  had  been  moored  in  this  threatening  po- 
sition for  two  or  three  hours.  But  no  boat  was  seen  put- 
ting off  from  the  shore,  or  any  sign  made  by  the  Rajah 
that  he  intended  to  offer  any  satisfaction  for  the  injuries 
he  had  sanctioned,  or  further  explanation  for  his  delay. 
It  was  a  moment  of  intensest  interest  on  board.  I  am 
sure  there  was  no  one  who  did  not  wish  that  the  Rajah 
should  pursue  the  course  of  justice,  and  yield  the  mur- 
derer and  the  property,  which  was  deemed  to  be  alto- 
gether within  his  power  to  do,  and  thus  save  himself  from 
the  demonstration  of  our  just  displeasure,  which  could  not 
long  be  delayed,  to  the  expected  demolishing  of  his  forts 
and  town. 

And  I  am  sure  that  no  one  more  intensely  desired  this 
course  to  be  pursued  than  our  Commodore,  who  had  now 
used  every  means  to  induce  the  Rajah  to  act  the  part  of 
a  just  chief,  and  what  was  believed  to  be  the  wishes  of 
many  of  his  men.  The  moment,  however,  had  arrived 
•when  further  delay  on  our  part  would  have  been  treachery 
to  the  lives  of  our  own  countrymen,  and  a  conniving  at 
the  crimes  of  robbery  and  murder. 

Three  taps  upon  the  drum  started  every  man  in  the 
ship,  as  if  the  wing  of  some  unseen  spirit  had  suddenly 
swept  over  each  one's  face ;  and  the  music,  the  next  in- 
stant, beat  the  thrilling  summons  to  quarters.  Each  man, 
before  a  minute  was  passed,  was  in  his  place,  ready  to  do 
his  superior's  bidding,  to  throw  destruction  and  devasta- 
tion into  the  forts  and  town,  which  lay  but  a  few  cables' 
length  in  the  distance  from  us.  The  thrilling  excitement 
now  felt  was  not  from  fear,  for  there  was  nothing  to  be 
apprehended,  though  it  was  expected  that  the  Rajah's 
forts  might  open  upon  us.  But  it  was  the  idea,  that  our 
own  shot  would  be  sending  these  miserable  people  into 

24* 


282          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

another  world,  and  crumbling  upon  their  heads  the  dwell- 
ings they  inhabited. 

The  guns  in  a  moment  were  cleared  for  action — the 
tompions  out,  the  shot,  grape,  canister,  and  wadding  ar- 
ranged, the  matches  in  readiness — and  now,  the  men,  in 
proibundest  silence,  stood  waiting  the  order  to  fire  !  But 
a  few  rolls  of  the  music  now  beat  the  retreat ;  and  all,  save 
the  excited  hearts  of  the  crew,  and  the  guns  in  readiness 
for  an  engagement,  were  again  as  if  we  had  never  dreamed 
of  treacherous  falsehood,  infamous  robbery,  and  murder- 
ous Malays. 

An  hour  or  more  had  passed.  The  officers  were  nearly 
finishing  their  dessert  when  the  beat  to  quarters  again 
rolled  through  the  ship.  It  was  known  that  now  there 
would  be  no  longer  delay.  The  different  forts  had  been 
pointed  out,  as  objects  towards  which  the  guns  were  to  be 
directed.  The  firing  commenced.  It  was  an  interesting 
sight.  The  first  shot  from  the  Columbia  boomed  over  the 
water,  and  shivered  to  pieces  one  of  the  trees  which  em- 
bowered the  fortification,  and  in  their  thick  and  distinct 
cluster, entirely  concealed  the  fort.  A  second  shot,  directed 
from  another  division  towards  another  fortification,  scat- 
tered every  Malay  who  had  come  to  the  beach,  and  be- 
neath a  number  of  bamboo  houses,  had  trusted  to  the  display 
of  a  white  handkerchief,  waving  low  in  the  gentle  breeze, 
for  their  protection.  The  Rajah's  most  western  fort  in- 
stantly opened  upon  the  Columbia — the  shot  striking  a  few 
fathoms  from  the  ship.  The  divisions  continued  their  fire 
from  the  frigate,  riddling  the  thick  foliage  in  which  the 
fortifications  were  concealed,  and  silencing  the  Rajah's  fort 
after  it  had  sent  three  shots,  one  of  which  fell  just  beneath 
our  dolphin-striker. 

The  John  Adams,  at  the  same  time,  opened  her  guns  upon 
a  fort  on  the  east  of  the  town,  and  beyond  the  little  river 
which  separates  it  from  the  principal  bazaars.  The 
clouds  of  smoke  curled  from  her  side,  as  the  thunder  of 
her  cannonades,  in  the  repeated  concussions  on  the  vibra- 
ting air,  roared  loud  and  long;  while  the  shots  now  buried 
themselves  in  the  fort,  or  occasionally,  by  a  ricochet  upon 
the  water,  struck  again  upon  the  beach,  and  threw  up,  in 
mid-air,  their  clouds  of  sand,  and  uprooted  shrubs  and 
trees. 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  283 

The  cannonading  continued  from  both  ships  for  nearly 
a  half  hour,  when  the  order  was  given  to  cease  firing. 

CHRISTMAS    IN    THE    TROPICS. 

There  are  periods  in  time,  that  come  upon  us  on  their 
annual  occurrence,  with  an  irresistible  power  of  associa- 
tion. And  they  are  happy  or  grievous,  as  our  experience 
may  have  been,  as  those  periods  have  rolled  round,  on  their 
yearly  returns.  To-day  is  Christmas.  And  how  imme- 
diately is  the  inquiry  raised,  "Where  was  I  last  Christmas? 
And  whom  was  I  with  ?"  And  how  much  there  is  in  the 
answers,  as  the  mind  runs  over  the  objects  and  their  asso- 
ciations, which  are  recalled  in  connection  with  that  day ! 
To  me,  as  I  go  back  to  the  Christmas  day,  one  year  from 
this,  all  things  come  back  with  a  freshness,  as  if  I  were 
again  standing  amid  those  scenes,  so  far  over  the  sea,  and 
among  friends  rendered  yet  more  dear,  by  the  distance 
which  intervenes  and  the  time  we  have  measured  since  we 
parted.  I  remember  the  clear  day  that  sent  forth  its  beams 
from  a  clear  sun,  but  with  little  warmth  in  his  rays.  I 
remember  the  church  wreathed  and  festooned,  and  inly  em- 
bowered with  evergreens  ;  and  the  pulpit  where  I  stood, 
and  the  fixed  eyes  of  the  people  as  they  listened  to  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  altar  around  which  they  gathered. 
And  I  remember  the  young  and  endeared  sister,  so  lately 
attired  in  her  dress  of  deep  mourning,  and  like  a  dove 
whose  companion  had  been  smitten  from  her  side  by  an 
arrow,  seemed  an  object  of  lonely  loveliness,  amid  a  con- 

fregation  of  lighter  robes  and  lighter  hearts.  And  beside 
er  sat  a  man  of  years,  who  had  but  a  few  days  before 
put  his  lip  upon  the  cold  and  marble  brow  of  the  child  he 
cherished  and  loved  as  but  few  fathers  love,  ere  that  child 
was  borne  to  her  cold  grave,  to  come  no  more,  at  the 
Christmas  gathering,  around  the  family  table,  and  to  min- 
gle in  the  family's  domestic  circle.  And  I  remember  the 
letter,  which,  on  that  day  and  at  that  place,  was  handed 
me,  which  invited  me  to  visit  scenes  in  other  nations,  and 
which  determined  me  to  start  on  the  course  that  has  brought 
me  to  spend  this  Christmas  day  nearly  half  way  around 
the  world  from  the  spot  where  I  then  was  standing,  and 
from  the  friends  with  whom  I  then  communed. 


284  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

And  to-day,  instead  of  that  neat  temple,  so  tastefully 
festooned  and  decorated  in  evergreens,  on  the  joyous  birth- 
day of  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  in  a  clime  where 
the  December  gale  bears  on  its  wing  a  freezing  and  bra- 
cing air,  and  the  snow-storm  spreads  the  wide  folds  of  its 
gorgeous  ermine  mantle  over  mountain  and  meadow,  for- 
est and  fern,  and  the  ice  bridges  span  the  rivers  in  their 
flow, — I  now  look  abroad  from  an  ocean-temple,  floating 
in  the  warm  seas  of  a  torrid  clime.  And  before  me  lies 
one  of  nature's  sublimest,  loveliest  evergreen  mountains, 
curving  its  beautiful  outline  of  embowering  trees  on  an 
horizon  that  smiles  blandly  and  serene,  as  the  warmer 
than  the  summer  gale  sweeps  along  the  thick  foliage  of 
the  green  mountain-side  of  the  pepper  Isle.  And  to-day, 
our  still  ship  slumbers  on  the  smootli  bosom  of  the  lovely 
bay,  over  which  our  guns  yesterday  were  throwing  their 
intonations  of  displeasure  and  rebuke,  into  the  ears  of  the 
abettors  and  protectors  of  the  robber  and  the  murderer. 
But,  while  the  thunders  of  those  guns  have  ceased,  the 
eternal  roar  of  the  surf  sleeps  not,  as  the  undulating  wave 
breaks,  in  its  perpetual  rim  of  cascading  foam,  along  the 
extended  beach  of  gold.  I  have  always  loved  this  roar  of 
ocean-wave — this  loud  murmur  of  the  sea-surge,  breaking 
on  the  golden  beach.  It  ever  reminds  me  of  the  voice  of 
Niagara,  in  her  perpetual  worship  of  the  Eternal.  And 
though  the  voice  of  man  were  lost,  were  he  to  join  in  the 
loud  chant,  yet  the  one  emotion  that  swells  the  bosom  of 
the  worshipper,  as  he  stands  upon  the  sea-shore,  is  sublimer 
far  than  the  loudest  roar  of  mighty  waters.  But,  ye  friends, 
who  to-day  are  more  than  ten  thousand  miles  away,  in  the 
happy  land  of  the  west,  "  a  merry,  happy  Christmas  to  ye 
all."  And  O,  that  I  could  hear  your  response,  and  greet 
you  for  one  hour  on  this  hallowed  day,  at  your  festive  and 
happy  board.  I  know  that  your  thoughts  this  day  are 
often  with  me,  and  that  for  me  your  prayers,  in  kindness, 
as  certainly  ascend.  And  I but  may  God  bless  ye  all. 

SAILING    FOR    MUCKIE. 

As  the  light  began  to  stream  upon  the  mountain  this 
morning,  the  28th,  our  anchors  had  been  weighed  and  we 
were  starting  off  from  Kwala  Batu,  for  Muckie. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  285 

Yesterday,  while  flags  were  flying  on  shore,  and  some 
communications  passed  between  the  Commodore  and  the 
Rajahs,  Po  Kwala,  at  whose  fort  the  John  Adams  partic- 
ularly directed  her  shot,  sued  for  peace  :  "  He  no  have  the 
money — he  no  have  any  thing  to  do  with  the  robbery — he 
wish  to  be  friends."  Po  Kwala  is  a  near  connection,  by 
marriage,  of  Po  Nyah-heit,  at  whose  fort,  also,  a  white  flag 
was  flying.  Po  Nyah-heit  has  previously  been  alluded  to  ; 
and  was  desirous  of  joining  his  men  with  ours  and  Po  Kwa- 
la's,  the  Pedir  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  to  fight  Po  Chute- 
Abdullah,  the  principal  or  Achin  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu.* 
But  while  no  confidence,  it  was  thought,  should  be  placed 
in  these  professions,  Po  Nyah-heit's  course  saved  his  fort 
from  being  fired  into,  unless  one  of  the  first  shots  may  have 
reached  it  by  mistake. 

The  Achin  Rajah,  it  is  said,  sent  us,  as  his  last  commu- 
nication, that  "  he  had  endeavored  to  take  the  murderer, 
but  was  unable — he  had  not  gotten  the  money — we  had 
fired  into  his  town  and  killed  his  men — their  relatives  had 
called  upon  him  for  vengeance — and  if  we  wanted  to  have 
his  life  also,  we  must  come  on  shore  and  take  it."  The 
sequel  will  show  that  he  was  a  little  more  modest  at  a  later 
hour. 

After  stretching  along  down  the  coast  from  Kwala  Batu, 
we  have  come  to  anchor  within  a  few  cables'  length  of 
the  town  of  Muckie.  While  the  mountain  scenery  was 
deemed  exquisite  at  Kwala  Batu — blending  the  beautiful 
of  the  thick  foliage  of  the  embowered  mountain- side  with 
the  sublimity  of  its  height,  and  the  graceful  clouds  laying 
their  soft  folds  here  and  there  upon  its  tops — the  scenery 
now  before  us  is  additionally  picturesque  and  equally  sub- 
lime, and  even  yet  more  beautiful.  There  is  a  greater 
space  of  cultivated  field  on  the  mountain-slant,  which  ex- 
hibits every  variety  of  green,  from  the  lightest  yellow, 
through  every  shade  of  sea  and  bottle  and  emerald,  and 


*  There  are  two  Rajahs  at  Kwala  Batu — one,  Po  Chute-Abdullah, 
having  the  rule  over  the  men  from  Achin  ;  the  other,  Po  Kwala, 
called  the  Pedir  Rajah,  holding  the  power  over  the  Pedir  men. 
They  divide  the  revenue  of  the  port  between  them,  and  are  not  al- 
ways good  friends  of  each  other. 


286          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

yet  deeper  green.  Then  comes  the  wide  and  high-up 
slant  of  the  original  forest,  spreading  from  the  top  of  the 
high  mountain,  until  its  rim  comes  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  cultivated  fields  on  the  hill-side,  where  the  green  pep- 
per vines  are  seen  growing  in  their  richness  and  beauty.* 

The  town  of  Muckie,  itself,  is  spread  out  on  a  little 
peninsula  or  point,  with  groves  of  cocoa-nut  trees  embow- 
ering the  houses ;  and  the  fort  furthest  out  on  the  point, 
for  the  defence  of  the  town,  is  equally  shaded  by  these 
trees  in  Asiatic  costume,  deep,  and  spreading,  and  peculiar. 

A  boat  from  the  Columbia  is  now  shoving  off  from  the 
ship,  bearing  Captain  Wyman,  of  the  John  Adams,  to  hold 
a  communication  with  the  Rajah  of  the  town.  Two  hun- 
dred natives  are  lining  the  shores,  at  the  landing-place  of 
the  town,  waiting  this  boat,  which  is  attended  by  two  of  the 
cutters,  whose  crews  are  armed  with  cutlasses  and  pistols, 
that  in  case  of  manifestations  of  enmity  or  treachery,  they 
may  form  a  force  sufficient  to  defend  the  boats  and  the 
persons  of  the  officers. 

The  Rajahs  manifested  great  frankness  in  this  first  inter- 
view ;  and  the  next  morning  Lieutenant  Turner  was  sent 
on  shore,  at  an  early  hour  of  the  morning,  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  off  the  Rajahs  to  the  ship,  agreeably  to  the  ex- 
pectation they  had  raised  in  the  minds  of  those  officers 
who  had  held  the  talk  with  them,  that  they  would  willingly 
come.  But  the  Commodore's  invitation  to  them  to  visit 
the  ship  was  finally  declined,  after  a  long  talk  among  them- 
selves, and  evidently  on  the  ground  that  they  feared,  if 
once  on  board,  they  would  be  retained  until  the  restitution 
of  the  money  and  the  surrender  of  the  murderers  suppo- 
sed to  be  at  Muckie.  And  in  their  way  of  estimating 
things,  they  doubtless  also  considered  that  their  lives 
would  be  endangered.  They  therefore  declined,  altogeth- 
er, a  visit  to  the  ships ;  and  Lieutenant  Turner  expressed 
himself,  on  his  return,  fully  persuaded  that  no  satisfaction 
could  be  derived  from  these  people.  The  finesse  of  yes- 
terday was  to  gain  delay  in  any  attack  that  might  be  de- 
signed upon  the  place.  It  was  further  believed,  and  affirm- 
ed positively  by  Po  Adam,  that  Lubby  Sammon,  a  man 

*  See  Frontispiece. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  287 

of  considerable  influence  here  and  a  particular  friend  of 
the  chief  Rajah  of  Muckie,  was  the  instigator  of  the  at- 
tack upon  the  Eclipse ;  that  he  induced  Luhby  Yusuf  to 
select  his  men,  and  shared  a  great  part  of  the  booty.  This 
same  man  is  now  at  Muckie,  and  will  not  be  given  up  by 
the  Rajah.  The  whole  testimony,  that  can  be  relied  on, 
goes  to  implicate  the  Rajah,  here,  as  one  of  the  chief  abet- 
tors of  the  murder  and  the  robbery.  But  as  he  refuses  to 
make  any  satisfaction,  further  than  denying  any  participa- 
tion in  the  crime,  in  the  face  of  evidence  which  is  suppo- 
sed to  be  against  him,  all  further  hope  of  getting  the  mur- 
derers or  the  money  is  resigned.  The  infliction  of  what 
is  believed  to  be  a  just  retribution,  therefore,  only  remains 
for  the  action  of  our  ships,  in  their  attack  upon  the  town, 
by  which  our  power  may  be  demonstrated,  and  the  na- 
tives be  further  assured  that  we  have  a  force  to  protect 
our  commerce  ;  and  that  it  is  our  purpose  to  inflict  a  pun- 
ishment upon  those  who  shield  the  murderers  of  our  citi- 
zens abroad,  or  who  share  in  the  plunder  from  our  ships. 
For  making  this  demonstration  of  our  ability  and  deter- 
minations, the  two  ships  are  to  be  hauled  nearer  in  to  the 
town.  And  if  no  deputation  shall  be  sent  off  during  the 
morning  of  to-morrow,  the  last  die  will  have  been  thrown, 
to  decide  the  course  of  our  ships.  The  intention  of  the 
squadron  is  entirely  understood  by  the  Malays  on  shore, 
with  the  motives  of  its  threatened  action. 

NEWS    FROM    HOME.       ASSOCIATION. 

While  the  negotiations  with  the  natives  were  being 
carried  on  during  the  preceding  day,  and  our  ships  were 
resting  in  inaction,  with  the  evergreen  mountain-scene 
before  us  and  the  wide  ocean  extending  far  away  to  the 
south  and  west,  I  spent  the  hours  in  reading  newspapers 
from  the  home  we  have  left  so  many  degrees  behind  us. 
A  large  roll  of  papers  has  been  forwarded  to  us  from  Cap- 
tain Silver,  of  the  ship  Sumatra,  which  arrived  on  the 
coast  a  few  days  since  ;  and  presuming  that  we  were  yet 
at  Kwala  Batu,  he  despatched  a  native,  in  his  boat,  to 
convey  this  rich  treat  to  us.  The  boat  found  us  at  Muckie, 
having  reached  Kwala  Batu  just  as  we  were  standing 


288          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

out  from  that  place.  We  record  this  act  of  Captain  S., 
with  many  thanks  for  the  pleasure  he  contributed  thus  to 
give  us.  The  news  brought  us  intelligence,  four  months 
later  than  our  leaving  the  United  States.  Besides  the  pa- 
pers from  New  York,  the  residence  of  most  of  my  friends, 
one  came  from  a  neighborhood  within  a  few  miles  of  my 
country  home.  It  seemed  as  if  some  mystic  hand,  unseen, 
but  ever  ready  to  serve  me  with  acts  of  kindness,  had 
put  this  sheet,  nicely  folded,  only  for  myself,  among  the 
medley-papers  of  the  large  bundle  which  was  conveyed 
to  us.  And  could  all  the  secrets  be  told  by  which  that 
same  folio  sheet  came  to  me,  on  the  western  coast  of  the 
isle  of  Samatra,  perhaps  we  should  be  more  ready  to  be- 
lieve in  the  agencies  of  unseen  powers  than  the  credulities 
of  most  of  us  usually  will  allow. 

And  how  powerful  is  association,  however  awakened ! 
It  is  a  beautiful  anecdote,  told  of  a  boat's  crew  of  those 
who  attended  Captain  Cook  around  the  world.  They  had 
landed  upon  an  island,  and  entered  a  log-cabin.  A  relic 
of  a  spoon,  with  half  its  handle  gone,  met  their  eye,  with 
the  word  LONDON  stamped  on  the  remaining  part  of  it. 
This  single  word  so  affected  them,  in  their  distance  and 
long  wanderings  from  their  native  land,  that  it  threw  them 
all  into  tears,  as  the  floods  of  associations  crowded  into 
their  minds. 

Similar  is  the  effect  of  a  letter,  even  before  the  seal  has 
been  broken,  if  we  recognise,  in  its  address,  the  handwrri- 
ting  of  one  we  love.  And  how  we  cherish  a  braid  of  hair, 
which  has  been  given  us,  with  the  smiles  of  a  friend,  as  a 
thing  that  shall  revive  agreeable  remembrances  !  And  who 
has  not  in  his  choice  repository  of  trifles  a  thousand  and 
one  mementoes  of  emotions  and  kind  words  and  loved  re- 
collections of  persons  and  things  ?  It  is  this  element  of  our 
being  affected  by  the  force  of  association,  which  makes  us 
civilized  and  kind  beings,  and  renders  life  capable  of  being 
lived  over  more  than  once.  I  have  a  little  essence  bottle 
— will  one  of  my  readers  remember  it — which  I  would  not 
part  with  for  the  choicest  pearl  that  ever  came  from  the 
waters  of  Bahrien.  I  have  a  little  painting,  representing 
two  placid  lambs,  and  called  "peace"  For  what  would  I 
part  with  this  1  She  is  dead  who  gave  it.  And  they  have 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  289 

told  me  that  she  died  with  bright  and  consistent  hopes  of 
entering,  and  for  ever  ranging  the  fields,  where  no  discord 
comes,  where  perpetual  peace  reigns.  And  I  have  a  gold 
pencil  case, — there  is  a  strange  power  in  that  inanimate 
token, — but  I  will  not  speak  of  that.  And  I  have — it  is 
not  a  lock  of  hair,  it  is  a  single  thread,  which,  by  itself,  I 
saw  floating  on  the  pure  brow  of  a  young  friend,  who  did 
not  think  me  impertinent  as  I  wound  it  around  my  finger 
and  plucked  it  from  among  its  associates  as  a  truant  thing 
that  was  playing  in  the  breeze,  as  if  it  alone  were  entitled 
to  the  favor  of  the  evening  zephyr,  as  that  zephyr  swept, 
with  the  refreshing  purity  of  a  country  air,  through  the 
piazza.  And  she  afterwards  wound  it  around  her  own 
delicate  fingers,  as  a  plaything  ;  and  in  the  leisure,  and 
luxury,  and  listlessness  of  the  calm  and  lovely  summer- 
evening  hour,  we  took  a  pencil  and  marked  the  date  of  the 
day  on  a  blank  paper  ;  and  she  scribbled  her  name  upon 
it ;  and  the  little  coil  was  placed  within  the  envelope, 
laughingly,  as  if  it  were  all  a  trifling  thing,  amusing  two 
happy  idlers,  at  the  moment.  And  now.  how  at  this  mo- 
ment that  sweet  face  comes  up  in  my  vision,  and  seems 
again  to  gaze  in  my  own,  confidingly,  as  then  she  looked ; 
her  speaking  eye,  laughing  and  floating  in  its  soft  light ; 
her  cheek  tinged  with  a  loveliness  of  carnation  which 
cannot  be  imitated,  and  which  nature  gives  to  whom  she 
wills,  varying  ever,  now  fading  and  now  deepening  with 
every  emotion  expressed  or  felt ;  and  then  her  lip,  inimi- 
table, whether  an  hour  of  excitement  deepened  its  carmine, 
or  a  calmer  hour  left  it  in  its  rim  of  highly  polished  coral. 
Once,  I  saw  that  lip  as  pale,  as  if  the  wing  of  the  angel 
of  death  had  swept  it.  Should  this  page  happen  to  meet 
that  eye,  which  even  now  I  see  in  all  its  colors  of  blended 
softness  and  tell-tale  emotion,  I  wonder  if  she  will  remem- 
ber that  little  coil  of  hair — the  envelope — its  date — and 
the  enchanting  scene  and  scenery  of  that  summer-evening 
hour  ?  And  I  have — what  have  I  not  ?  I  have  at  least 
a  heart,  that  bounds  over  the  sea  to  friends,  when  incident 
or  circumstance  awakens  the  train  of  association,  that  flies 
fleeter  than  on  the  wings  of  dove,  or  other  bird,  to  the  land 
of  the  west.  Thanks  again  to  thee,  Captain  Silver,  for 
thy  roll  of  newspapers. 

25 


290  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


DESTRUCTION    OP    MUCKIE. 

New-year  day,  January  1st,  1838.  The  first  morn  of 
the  new  year  has  dawned  upon  us  with  a  clear  and  pure 
sky.  The  sea  this  morning  is  sleeping  around  us,  with  a 
bosom  bright  as  a  silver  mirror,  and  the  roll  of  the  sea- 
surge  has  lulled,  as  if,  like  the  calm  before  the  tremblings 
of  the  earthquake,  it  would  smile  on  the  purposes  of  de- 
struction, which  our  ships  this  day  seem  designing  to  bear 
into  the  town,  which  now  lies  almost  within  gun-shot  of 
our  thirty-two  and  forty-two  pounders.  Both  ships  have 
been  kedged  into  their  near  positions  this  morning,  it  being 
the  purpose  of  the  Commodore  to  cannonade  the  town,  as 
the  only  alternative  of  showing  our  displeasure,  and  to  in- 
flict due  punishment  upon  a  people  whose  Rajah  refuses 
to  make  any  overtures,  and  against  whom  the  evidence 
is  deemed  to  be  conclusive,  of  his  being  culpable  in  the 
murderous  affair  and  robbery  of  the  barque  Eclipse. 

The  John  Adams  had  early  placed  herself  far  into  the 
little  bay,  near  the  beach,  and  taken  her  position,  with 
her  broadside  sprung  to  bear  upon  the  town.  The  Co- 
lumbia soon  reached  her  place  opposite  the  principal  fort 
of  the  town,  from  which  it  was  expected  that  there  would 
be  some  guns  fired,  but  which  the  Columbia  would  soon 
silence.  The  ships  were  so  placed  that  their  guns  would 
rake  at  pleasure  the  whole  town,  in  its  length  and  breadth. 

No  boat  having  reached  the  ship  with  any  overture 
during  the  morning,  and  the  ships  being  in  readiness  to 
execute  their  purposes  of  destruction,  the  order  was  passed 
to  fire.  Our  first  shot  was  a  signal  for  the  John  Adams 
to  open  upon  the  town  ;  and  the  smoke  and  the  flames 
issued  from  her  side  the  instant  the  report  of  our  own  long 
thirty-two  pounder  broke  the  quiet  still-calm  of  the  sur- 
rounding scene. 

Every  gun  from  the  beautiful  corvette  seemed  to  know 
its  errand,  as  it  sent  its  report  distinctly  back  to  the  ear 
when  the  bolt  had  struck,  with  its  tremendous  concussion, 
and  sent  up  its  cloud  of  dust  as  it  riddled  the  bamboo- 
houses,  or  evolved  a  column  of  smoke,  as  if  a  hundred  hot 
irons  had  been  applied  to  the  external  surface  of  the  trees, 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  291 

as  the  cannon  ball  rived  their  trunks,  or,  like  a  pruning- 
hook,  lopped  their  branches  to  the  ground. 

The  Columbia  continued  her  fire  in  an  almost  unbroken 
succession  of  shots,  directed  particularly  at  the  fort,  which 
was  embowered  in  a  grove  of  cocoa-nut  and  other  trees; 
and  the  long  thirty-two  and  forty-two  pound  cannonades 
spoke  loud  and  long,  and  rebukingly,  as  their  thunder 
rolled  over  the  bay,  and  the  echoes  repeated  their  voice 
from  the  mountain-side,  and  died  away  in  deeper  and 
later  tones,  far  back  in  the  defile  of  mountains,  which 
raise  their  double  tier  inwalling  an  almost  concealed 
ravine,  as  their  ranges  stretch  south  and  west.  The  quick 
reports  of  the  raking  shot  came  back  distinct  and  clear, 
as  they  drove  their  way  into  the  fort,  or  sent  up  the  clouds 
of  dust  as  they  riddled  the  bamboo-houses,  and  scattered 
the  splinters  of  buildings  of  firmer  materials,  or,  point- 
blank,  drove  against  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  riving  it  in  pieces, 
and  sending  up  a  spiral  column  of  smoke,  as  if  it  were 
curling  in  a  pure  blue  cloud  above  the  green  foliage  from 
a  newly  lighted  fire  of  some  mountain-side  cabin. 

The  cannonading  from  both  ships  now  continued,  by 
successions  of  round,  and  canister,  and  grape-shot — the 
heavy  balls  at  times  striking  the  water  near  the  shore,  and 
by  ricochet,  apparently  doing  the  greater  destruction,  as 
crash  succeeded  crash,  while  the  missile,  in  its  lower  pas- 
sage, felt  its  way  across  the  little  peninsula  through  the 
town,  and  finally  went  on  its  course  of  dalliance  over  the 
sheet  of  water  which  washes  the  opposite  of  the  point. 
Again,  some  of  the  shot  passing  higher  than  the  rest, 
reached  quite  beyond  the  peninsula,  to  the  mountain-side; 
and  their  concussion  with  the  hills  sent  back  a  reverbe- 
rating crash,  which  told  the  desperate  rencounter  ;  and 
throughout  the  embowered  town,  as  I  gazed  from  the 
mizzen-top,  the  falling  bough  and  felled  tree,  and  crack- 
ing and  smoking  roof  were  seen,  now  together  and  now 
separately,  tumbling  in  their  destruction,  while,  at  other 
times,  a  straggling  shot  sent  up  its  cloud  of  sand,  as  it 
bored  its  way  into  the  beach,  which  throws  its  lip  of  gold 
around  the  edge  of  the  little  bay,  dividing  the  rim  of  the 
light-blue  of  the  sea-water  from  the  deep-green  of  the 
ever- verdant  and  luxuriant  foliage  of  the  trees  that  em- 


292  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

bower  the  whole  line  of  the  beautiful  shore.  And  the 
rolling  volumes  of  smoke,  driving  from  the  heated  mouths 
of  the  cannon,  were  borne  away  by  the  sea-breeze,  which 
was  now  beginning  to  set  gently  in,  and  curled  the  piles 
of  smoke  against  the  mountain-side,  which  stood  in  all  its 
beauty,  untarnished  and  lovely,  and  smiling  while  all  was 
devastation  and  anger,  and  frowning  displeasure,  on  the 
level  below. 

A  silence  for  a  moment  succeeded.  The  divisions  for 
landing  were  now  called  away.  A  few  blasts  upon  the 
clear  bugle  summoned  the  boats  to  be  manned.  A  like 
order  was  conveyed  to  the  Adams ;  while  the  large  guns 
of  both  ships  were  continuing  their  fire,  as  often  as  the 
remaining  men  could  load  and  discharge  their  pieces. 
The  starboard  sides  of  the  ships  had  been  sprung  to  bear 
upon  the  shore,  and  the  boats  were  soon  manned,  as  they 
lay  along  the  opposite  side  of  the  ships,  unseen  by  any 
enemy  that  might  be  awaiting  the  landing  of  any  force 
from  the  two  vessels.  The  single  guns  continued  to  open 
their  fire  upon  the  forts  and  town  during  the  manning  of 
the  boats.  The  launch  and  four  cutters,  crowded  with 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  were  now  ready  to  shove  off 
from  the  frigate.  They  lingered  a  moment,  with  their 
oars  pointed  ready  to  fall,  while  silence  once  more,  and 
profound,  prevailed.  The  Commodore,  from  the  side- 
steps, contemplated  the  heroic  little  force,  ready  and  eager 
to  peril  life  if  dangers  were  to  be  encountered  by  the  ex- 
pedition. 

"  You  have  been  desirous,"  he  said,  "  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  land,  on  an  expedition  like  the  one  which  is  now 
offered  you.  1  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  your  suc- 
cess. Burn  and  destroy  the  town,  and  put  to  death  all 
men  whom  you  may  find  bearing  arms,  and  by  no  means 
injure  the  unarmed  and  the  yielding.  Gentlemen,"  he 
added  to  the  officers,  "  I  wish  you  success,  and  shall  ex- 
pect your  return  to  the  ship  in  one  hour  and  a  half." 

The  boats  now  pulled  for  the  Adams,  whose  five  boats 
were  as  instantly  directing  their  way  to  the  beach,  the 
moment  they  saw  our  own  put  off  from  the  side  of  the 
Columbia. 

It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  those  ten  boats,  crowded  by 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.        293 

armed  sailors  and  marines,  their  guns  pointed  with  bayo- 
nets, or  their  hands  bristling  with  pikes,  with  pistols  in 
their  belts  and  cutlasses  at  their  sides.  It  would  have 
been  no  small  force  which  could  have  successfully  met 
that  gallant  little  band,  flushed  as  they  now  were  on  their 
virgin  adventure  in  arms.  Not  one  of  those  officers  now 
in  those  boats  had  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  hostile 
guns  with  destructive  intent  till  within  these  few  days,  at 
Kwala  Batu,  and  now  at  Muckie.  And  the  young  pulse 
of  every  officer  was  beating  for  the  occasion,  (however 
much  and  deeply  they  regretted  the  necessity  of  the  pres- 
ent action,)  to  show  their  daring  on  an  expedition,  which 
none  could  divine  should  not  prove  destructive  to  many 
of  their  number.  Yet,  the  silence  of  death  which  had 
prevailed  throughout  the  doomed  town — no  gun  having 
been  fired  from  the  fort,  nor  man  nor  living  soul  been 
seen  during  the  bombardment,  save  one  solitary  being, 
venturing  beyond  his  fellows  to  gaze  from  his  nook — 
gave  encouragement  that  the  thousand  and  probably  more 
inhabitants  of  the  town  had  retired  to  the  mountain ;  and 
the  devastating  shot — the  round,  and  canister,  and  grape, 
which  whistled  in  vengeance  through  the  groves  and 
dwellings  throughout  the  town,  would  have  made  it  mad- 
ness for  one  to  have  remained.  And  yet  there  might  be 
an  ambush,  although  the  ground  was  unfavorable,  and 
every  thing  contributing  to  favor  the  operation  of  our 
forces.  The  guns  of  the  two  ships  continued  to  throw 
their  shot  to  the  left  of  the  boats  while  pulling  to  the 
shore,  rendering  it  destructive  for  any  foe  to  attempt  to 
oppose  their  landing.  It  was  a  wide  strand  on  which  the 
divisions  immediately  formed,  and  without  delay  advanced, 
in  order,  to  the  nearest  point,  to  fire  the  buildings  of  the 
town. 

I  had  watched  with  excited  interest  the  cannonading, 
from  the  mizzen-top,  looking  far  into  the  town,  and  over 
it,  to  the  adjacent  bay,  marking  the  falling  of  the  boqghs, 
the  dust  rising  in  clouds  as  the  shot  riddled  the  roofs  and 
sides  of  the  buildings,  or  chafing  the  trunks  of  the  cocoa- 
nut  and  other  trees,  or  riving  them  from  their  stems. 
But  the  interest  had  now  deepened  in  increased  intensity. 
The  divisions  were  on  their  advance ;  and  if  resistance 

25* 


294  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WOULD. 

were  to  be  made,  the  moment  had  arrived.  All  was  dis- 
tinctly seen  from  the  ship,  left  like  a  deserted  hall,  where 
no  step  nor  voice  was  longer  heard,  but  where  half  a 
thousand  a  moment  before  wrere  moving.  I  could  dis- 
tinguish the  officers  of  the  different  divisions  oh  the  beach ; 
and  the  well-known  voices  of  the  First  and  Third  Lieu- 
tenants occasionally  came  over  the  little  sheet  of  water, 
and  their  orders  distinctly  understood. 

Captain  Wyman,  of  the  Adams,  commanded  the  expe- 
dition. The  divisions  had  advanced  to  the  range  of  build- 
ings stretching  along  the  beach,  with  a  diverging  angle 
from  the  water-side  ;  and  the  "  pioneers,"  under  Acting- 
Master  Jenkins,  attached  to  the  first  division,  were  seen 
making  a  wider  breach  in  the  nearest  range  of  the  bazaar- 
houses  ;  while  the  marines,  under  Lieutenant  Baker,  ad- 
vanced to  the  neighboring  fort,  to  examine  and  carry  it. 
It  had  already  been  deserted.  The  guns  were  spiked, 
and  Lieutenant  Pennock  ordered  temporarily  to  hold  it.  In 
a  moment  more  a  smoke  was  seen  curling  up  from  the 
adjacent  building  on  the  right  of  the  effected  passage- 
way, now  in  its  thin  blue  layers,  than  yet  more  dense,  and 
now  the  flame  streamed  high  above  the  thatched  roof, 
declaring  that  the  town  was  fired.  Three  or  four  more 
buildings  of  the  same  line  of  houses,  ranged  with  inter- 
locking roofs,  and  forming  a  regular  street  in  front  in  a 
moment  more  sent  up  their  separate  sheets  of  flame  ;  and 
the  resistless  element,  kindled  by  port-fires  and  torches, 
under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Magruder,  gave  forth 
the  glare  of  lurid  volumes,  rising  high  and  spreading  wide, 
and  blending  together  their  expanding  sheet,  which  now 
extended  in  rapid  and  destructive  volumes  down  the  line 
of  the  bazaars. 

Each  division  had  been  amply  supplied  with  torches 
and  port-fires.  From  this  point  they  took  their  different 
courses  to  carry  the  remaining  forts,  and  to  fire  the  re- 
maining sections  of  the  town.  Lieutenant  Turk  led  on 
his  division  through  the  northwestern  range  of  houses, 
applying  the  torch  and  the  port-fire  as  he  advanced,  till 
he  reached  a  considerable  stream  of  water,  where  a  num- 
ber of  valuable  proas,  of  larger  and  smaller  dimensions, 
were  found  moored  and  grounded.  These  and  lesser 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  295 

craft,  in  considerable  numbers,  and  with  their  contents, 
were  soon  sending  up  their  complement  of  flames  to 
mingle  in  the  general  conflagration.  The  division  was  in 
time,  on  its  return,  to  assist  in  case  of  necessity  in  carry- 
ing the  fort  on  the  point,  to  which  the  second  division, 
under  Lieutenant  Turner,  after  effecting  the  firing  of  its 
portion  of  the  town,  with  the  other  forces,  had  collected. 
The  fort,  like  the  rest,  had  been  deserted ;  its  guns  were 
soon  spiked,  thrown  from  their  position,  and  the  flames 
were  soon  enveloping  it. 

The  town  now  exhibited  one  scene  of  extended  and 
extending  ruins.  The  light  and  dry  bamboo  buildings 
burned  like  stubble  ;  and  the  better  houses  added  intensity 
and  continuance  to  the  devouring  element.  Flame  min- 
gled with  flame,  as  the  opposite  currents  converged.  The 
dark  columns  of  smoke  rolled  high  in  the  rarefied  air,  and 
the  long  and  seared  leaf  of  the  cocoa-nut,  and  the  crimped 
foliage  of  other  thickly  embowering  trees,  added  to  the 
general  mass  of  fuel ;  Vhile  the  spiral  sheet  of  fire  wound 
up  the  stem  and  shot  through  the  branches  and  over- 
topped the  highest  trees.  The  very  heat  seemed  to  reach 
me  in  the  mizzen-top,  while  the  loud  cracking  of  the 
green  foliage,  and  the  splitting  of  the  tall  and  thick  bam- 
boo, in  the  general  roar  and  loud  cracking  of  a  vast  and 
extending  conflagration,  came  distinctly  and  clear  to  the 
ear.  The  forked  and  ambient  and  towering  flames  min- 
gling with  the  dark  and  floating  columns  of  smoke,  now 
possessed  the  entire  town,  and  all  was  within  the  full  view 
of  our  ships.  It  was  a  scene  of  grandeur  in  destruction 
to  be  looked  at  with  profound  interest,  while  pity,  blended 
with  a  sense  of  just  displeasure,  rose  in  the  bosom,  as  the 
eye  contemplated  the  extended  devastation.  It  was  a 
spectacle  of  grandeur  as  beheld  in  the  day-time — its 
magnificence  and  sublimity  could  not  be  described  as  it 
would  have  gleamed,  in  its  terror  and  illumination,  in  the 
night. 

Such  was  the  scene  of  the  burning  town,  when  the 
different  divisions  had  all  gathered  upon  the  point,  in  open 
view  of  our  frigate.  The  destruction  was  complete.  The 
bamboo-bazaars  were  melting  fast  to  the  ground — the  bet- 
ter houses  crumbling  slower  but  surely,  and  with  intenser 


296          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

heat.  The  five  forts  were  in  flames.  Their  guns,  twenty- 
one  in  number,  had  been  spiked,  and  thrown  from  their 
positions.  The  flames  were  yet  in  the  tops  of  the  tall 
cocoa-nut,  the  towering  and  thick  bamboo,  and  other  trees. 
It  was  a  moment  of  triumph  to  this  little  host,  having  com- 
pleted their  work  without  the  firing  of  a  gun.  And  it 
showed  the  daring  and  the  determination  of  a  gallant  band 
of  American  sailors  on  a  foreign  strand,  ten  thousand 
miles  from  their  home.  And  well  they  might  exult,  at  the 
moment,  in  view  of  the  horrors  which  might  have  awaited 
them.  But  hark !  the  report  of  a  cannon  now  boomed 
loud  on  the  air.  It  was  one  of  the  guns  of  the  forts, 
which  had  been  spiked,  and  was  discharged  by  the  burn- 
ing element  which  was  now  raging  over  it.  Again,  three 
cheers  came  over  the  water,  clear  and  distinct,  as  their 
huzza  and  the  swinging  of  their  hats  declared  their  com- 
plete success.  The  bugle  now  sounded  the  retreat  in  the 
tune  of  "  Yankee  Doodle,"  of  olden  and  revolutionary  as- 
sociations ;  and  "  Hail  Columbia"  attended  their  disembar- 
kation. 

The  divisions  reached  their  separate  ships  in  safety ; 
and  their  return  was  greeted  with  a  cordial  welcome. 
The  heart  of  the  Commodore  unbent  itself  in  generous 
feelings,  as  his  solicitude  was  relieved  by  the  return  of 
every  man  to  the  ship  who  had  left  it. 

Captain  Wyman,  of  the  John  Adams,  an  officer  of 
great  coolness,  judgment,  and  gallantry,  led  the  expedition; 
whose  report  to  the  Commodore,  entering  into  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  action  of  the  divisions,  and  specifying  the 
names  of  the  officers  from  both  ships,  is  here  given. 

"  United  States  Ship  John  Adams, 
Off  Muckie,  Island  of  Sumatra,  Jan.  1st,  1839. 

"SlR,— 

"  In  execution  of  your  order  to  me  for  the  entire  de- 
struction of  the  town  of  Muckie,  I  this  day  landed  on  the 
beach  at  the  head  of  the  harbor,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  from  the  town,  with  six  divisions  of  small- 
arms,  men,  and  marines,  consisting  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty  men,  detailed  for  the  service  from  the  squadron 
under  your  command. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  297 

"  Upon  getting  on  shore,  the  different  divisions  were, 
together  with  the  marines,  immediately  formed  by  their 
respective  commanding  officers,  when  all  moved  forward 
for  Muckie,  which  was  entered  about  half-past  twelve,  in 
the  afternoon  ;  and  by  two  o'clock  the  town  was  in  our 
possession.  Five  forts  were  taken  without  opposition, 
and  the  guns  found  therein,  to  the  number  of  twenty-one, 
spiked  and  thrown  over  the  parapet  into  the  ditch — the 
forts  set  fire  to  and  entirely  demolished.  The  town,  at 
the  same  time,  was  set  on  fire  in  numerous  places,  which 
was  entirely  consumed,  together  with  all  the  property  in 
and  near  the  place — consisting  of  proas,  coasting  craft, 
and  boats  of  various  sizes  and  descriptions,  and  the  rig- 
ging, yards,  &c.,  &c.,  found  on  shore,  belonging  thereto, 
were  destroyed  in  the  general  conflagration ;  and  upon 
embarking,  nothing  remained  visible  to  the  eye  but  the 
ashes  covering  the  smoking  ruins,  upon  the  site  on  which 
the  town  of  Muckie  and  the  forts  once  stood. 

"  The  zealous  and  gallant  bearing  of  the  officers,  and 
the  efficient  discipline  manifested  in  the  men  by  the  prompt 
and  firm  manner  with  which  every  order  was  obeyed, 
met  my  unqualified  approbation ;  and  I  am  certain,  that, 
had  there  been  more  for  them  to  accomplish,  more  would 
have  been  done ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  it  only  required  a 
steady  opposition  on  the  part  of  our  enemies,  for  which 
they  had  ample  resources,  to  have  rendered  this,  to  us,  a 
brilliant  little  affair. 

"  I  am  much  gratified,  however,  to  inform  you,  that  the 
object  of  our  landing  was  completely  attained,  and  the 
several  divisions,  including  the  marines,  returned  on  board 
their  respective  ships  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

"  I  enclose  herewith  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  officers 
of  the  squadron,  who  landed  with,  and  belonged  to,  the 
expedition,  and  those  who  had  charge  of  the  boats  on  that 
service. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  remain,  sir,  very  respectfully, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

T.  W.  WYMAN, 
"  Commander,  and  commanding  officer  of  the  expedition. 

"  To  Commodore  GEORGE  C.  READ, 

Commanding  East  India  Squadron,  off  Muckie." 


298  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Commander  T.  W.  WYMAN,  commanding  the  expedition. 

Purser  D.  FAUNTLEROY,  "1 

Passed  Mid.  E.  C.  WARD, 

Midshipman  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  >  Aids  to  the  Commander. 

Midshipman  J.  M.  WAINWRIGHT, 

Midshipman  ROBERT  S.  MORRIS,     J 

(From  the  Columbia.) 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  A.  MAGRUDER,  First  Lieutenant  of  the  U.  S. 

Frigate  Columbia,  commanding  the  first  division. 
Lieutenant  JOHN  W.  TURK,  commanding  the  second  division. 
Lieutenant  THOMAS  TURNER,  commanding  the  third  division. 
Acting  Lieutenant  A.  M.  PENNOCK,  commanding  the  fourth  division. 

Acting  Master  E.  JENKINS, 

Passed  Mid.  D.  Ross  CRAWFORD, 


Midshipmen  C.  St.  G.  NOLAND, 


Attached  to  Divisions. 


BARNEY,  C.  R.  SMITH,  C.  SINCLER, 

W.  W.  GREEN,  J.  L.  TOOMER, 

and  FAUNTLEROY, 
Passed  Midshipman  JAMES  McCoRMiCK,  } 

Midshipman  EDWARD  DONALDSON,  >  In  charge  of  the  boats. 

Midshipman  FITZGERALD,  ) 

J.  HENSHAW  BELCHER,  Prof,  of  Math.,     )  A    . 
BENJAMIN  CROW,  Sailmaker,  J  Actir^  as  marines' 

(From  the  John  Adams.) 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Lieutenant  E.  R,  THOMPSON, 

Acting  Lieutenant  JOSEPH  W.  REVERE, 

Midshipman  JOHN  N.  HIXON. 

SECOND   DIVISION. 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  MINOR, 
Acting  Master  ROBERT  B.  PEGRAM, 
Midshipman  ROBERT  H.  WYMAN. 

In  charge  of  boats. 

Midshipman  JAMES  H.  SPOTTS, 
Midshipman  CHARLES  T.  CROCKER, 
Midshipman  WILLIAM  K.  THOMPSON. 

soo-soo. 

The  ships  warped  out  during  the  evening  after  the 
burning  of  Muckie  further  into  the  offing,  and  at  daylight 
in  the  morning,  weighed  anchors  for  Soo-Soo. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  299 

The  ships  reached  Soo-Soo  towards  evening  of  the 
same  day  of  their  sailing  from  the  harbor  of  Muckie. 
The  boats  commenced  watering  the  next  morning,  and 
hundreds  of  the  natives  gathered  on  the  banks  of  the  little 
river,  where  our  boats  were  filling  their  breakers,  all 
armed  with  their  peculiar  weapons.  Our  own  men  wear 
a  cutlass,  and  the  boats'  crews  have  their  pistols  and 
muskets  in  readiness,  in  case  of  any  treachery.  The 
marines  are  stationed  to  keep  a  space  sufficiently  clear 
for  the  convenience  of  the  watering  party,  and  to  prevent 
any  sudden  attack  upon  our  men.  * 

While  our  ships  have  been  thus  engaged  for  the  two 
last  days,  within  sight  of  Kwala  Batu  and  surrounded  by 
the  natives  of  Soo-Soo,  the  priests  of  Soo-Soo  have  been 
engaged  with  the  Achin  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  and  have 
come  from  him  with  overtures  to  the  Commodore.  The 
Rajah  dreads  a  further  bombardment  of  his  town,  after 
we  shall  have  filled  up  our  water.  The  amount  of  the 
overture  is,  to  give  Commodore  Read  a  written  obliga- 
tion to  pay  to  the  owners  of  the  ship  Eclipse,  one  year 
from  this  time,  two  thousand  dollars,  the  amount  said  to 
have  been  conveyed  to  Kwala  Batu,  by  the  pirate  resid- 
ing there,  provided  the  Commodore  will  make  peace  with 
him,  and  abstain  from  further  annoying  his  town.  Com- 
modore Read  accepts  this  overture  of  Po  Chute  Abdullah, 
and  has  exchanged  with  him  for  his  written  obligation, 
the  following  document : 

"United  States  Frigate  Columbia, 
Off  Soo-Soo,  Jan.  5,  1839. 

"  I  hereby  certify  that  Po  Chute  Abdullah,  the  Rajah 
of  Kwala  Batu,  has  given  me  a  note  of  obligation  to  pay 
the  amount  of  two  thousand  dollars,  in  twelve  months 
from  this  date,  to  the  commander  of  any  vessel  of  war 
or  merchantman  who  may  present  the  same  when  it  be- 
comes due. 

"  As  this  may  appear  to  be  a  transaction  of  some  pecu- 
liarity, the  following  explanation  may  be  necessary. 
These  are  the  facts:  On  the  23d  of  December,  1838,  the 
frigate  Columbia  and  the  sloop  of  war  John  Adams  were 
hauled  as  close  in  to  the  forts  and  town  as  they  could  be 


300          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

with  safety,  for  the  purpose  of  compelling,  if  practicable, 
the  delivering  up  of  one  of  the  pirates,  who  was  residing 
at  Kwala  Batu,  and  known  to  be  one  of  the  twelve  men 
engaged  in  the  murder  and  robbery  committed  on  board 
the  American  ship  Eclipse  of  Salem.  Some  time  was 
consumed  in  negotiation,  and  the  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu 
at  first  promised  to  deliver  up  the  pirate,  but  afterwards 
professed  his  inability  to  do  so.  I  therefore  deemed  it 
necessary  to  fire  a  few  broadsides,  to  bring  the  Rajah,  if 
possible,  to  a  sense  of  justice.  This,  however,  at  the  mo- 
ment, did  not  seem  to  have  the  desired  effect.  On  my 
return  from  Muckie,  however,  after  the  destruction  of  that 
town,  the  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu  was  induced  to  pledge 
himself,  that  if  I  would  not  return  to  his  town  for  the 
purpose  of  annoying  him,  he  would  pay  the  owners  of  the 
ship  Eclipse  two  thousand  dollars,  the  amount  said  to 
have  been  conveyed  by  the  pirate  to  Kwala  Batu,  on  de- 
mand, one  year  from  this  date. 

"  GEORGE  C.  READ, 
"  Commanding  U.  S.  Naval  Force  in  the  Indian  Seas." 

The  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu  has  played  a  politic  game ; 
and  we  have  done  the  best  thing  practicable  for  ourselves. 
Po  Chute  Abdullah,  doubtless,  anticipates  an  increase  of 
trade  by  the  destruction  of  Muckie,  and  will  be  able  to 
meet  his  engagement  by  the  imposts  he  will  lay  upon  the 
pepper  exported  from  his  own  place  ;  and  the  people  thus 
reimburse  the  money  which  the  Rajah  declares  was  dis- 
tributed generally  among  them.  The  trade  will  continue 
uninterrupted,  and  the  people  have  gained  the  second  les- 
son, demonstrating  that  the  American  Government  has 
the  power  to  punish,  and  is  determined  to  inflict  a  chas- 
tisement on  the  towns  of  this  coast  if  their  dealings  hence- 
forth be  otherwise  than  honest  and  honorable  in  their 
intercourse  with  our  merchant  vessels. 

TALKS    WITH    THE    RAJAHS    OF    SOO-SOO. 

An  interview  with  the  Rajahs  of  Soo-Soo  has  been  had 
by  the  Commodore,  on  shore,  since  our  arrival  this  second 
time  off  Soo-Soo,  and  the  town  generally  examined.  And 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  301 

though  it  appears  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  four  of 
the  robbers  and  murderers  have  taken  refuge  at  Soo-Soo, 
and  brought  part  of  the  money  here,  yet  they  will  not  be 
given  up,  nor  will  the  Rajahs  be  able  to  pay  any  amount 
which  may  be  demanded  of  them.  To  destroy  their  town 
would  be  a  thing  practicable,  if  deemed  best  in  the  proba- 
ble influence  upon  the  people  towards  the  American 
traders  on  the  coast.  They,  however,  have  had  a  demon- 
stration of  the  power  of  our  ships,  and  of  our  purposes 
both  at  Kwala  Batu  and  at  Muckie,  which  are  situated  one 
on  each  side  of  them  ;  and  clemency  shown  to  them  must 
be  taken  as  such,  in  view  of  what  they  have  seen  inflicted 
upon  others,  and  what  has  been  fearfully  apprehended  by 
themselves.  Besides,  we  owe,  as  it  is  supposed,  some- 
thing to  Po  Adam.  Soo-Soo  is  his  place  of  residence,  and 
it  is  believed  that  its  destruction  would  involve  him  in 
ruin,  and  probably  expose  his  life  to  be  taken  on  our  leav- 
ing the  coast.  The  Rajahs  at  first  promised  fairly.  But, 
finding  themselves  unable  to  fulfil  their  engagements,  they 
retired  mostly  from  the  place,  expecting  it  to  be  attacked 
after  the  cannonading  of  Kwala  Batu,  notwithstanding 
their  white  flags  were  waving  in  the  tops  of  the  bamboo 
clusters  immediately  after  our  guns  began  to  play  upon 
the  forts  of  Kwala  Batu.  Contrary  to  their  expectation, 
however,  we  left  for  Muckie — destroyed  that  place,  and 
returned  to  our  present  anchorage  ground,  nearer  in  to 
the  shore  than  when  we  first  anchored  off  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Kwala  Batu. 

It  is  known  that  the  Rajahs  of  Soo-Soo,  and  most  of 
the  people,  have  again  returned  to  their  houses.  "  The 
women,"  Po  Adam  says,  "  cry,  and  the  men  too  when  the 
big  ships  come  again."  But  the  Rajahs  professed  the 
continuance  of  their  friendship — have  suffered  the  party  to 
water  without  molesting  them,  while  one  or  two  hundred 
of  their  armed  men  have  been  collected  on  the  beach 
nearly  the  whole  three  days  during  which  our  boats  have 
been  bringing  off  water  to  the  ships. 

To-day,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  the  Com- 
modore and  Captain  Wyman,  whom  I  accompanied,  went 
to  meet  the  Rajahs.  There  are  four  in  number,  having 

26 


302          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

authority  in  the  town  ;  and  they  were  to  be  gathered  at 
Po  Adam's  house. 

The  Commodore's  gig  led  the  way  around  a  reef  of 
coral  rocks,  over  which  the  breakers  dash  their  white 
foam ;  and  followed  by  Captain  Wyman's  boat,  we  en- 
tered over  a  sand-bar  into  the  mouth  of  a  beautiful  little 
stream,  which  empties  into  the  sea,  as  most  of  the  rivers 
of  the  island  do,  by  a  curve,  when  they  have  nearly  reach- 
ed the  beach.  The  surf  of  the  sea  produces  an  embank- 
ment, which  forces  the  rivulet  to  course  for  a  short  distance 
parallel  with  the  sea-shore  ;  but  ere  long  the  stream,  glid- 
ing obliquely  and  silverly  along,  mingles  its  tide  from  the 
green  mountains  with  the  deep  waters  of  the  blue  seas. 
Our  men  sprang  from  the  boat  as  we  struck  the  bar,  and 
bore  it  steadily  forward  as  a  few  inrolling  breakers  swept 
us  over  the  shoal  without  delay  or  danger ;  and  then  we 
glided  up  the  little  sylvan  way  of  the  narrow  stream  some 
yards  to  a  landing  point,  on  the  grounds  of  Po  Adam. 

Could  an  American  of  the  north  have  been  conveyed 
suddenly  from  his  home  and  placed  where  we  stood  as  we 
stepped  from  the  boat,  he  would  have  been  in  ecstasy,  if 
he  had  any  susceptibility  to  the  beauty  of  nature.  The 
stream  was  almost  embowered  by  the  leaves  of  the  palm, 
graceful  and  fan-like,  curving  over  their  half  circle  of  gor- 
geous foliage  in  their  place,  and  blending  with  the  tall 
trunks  of  the  cocoa-nut  tree,  spreading  its  top  like  an  um- 
brella upon  a  pole,  but  Asiatic  and  picturesque  beyond 
description  in  its  effect ;  while  the  bay-tree,  and  the  ba- 
nana, and  the  forest  giant,  and  their  lesser  and  more  grace- 
ful associates,  with  the  tall  and  luxurious  bamboo  every- 
where softening  the  scene,  surrounded  us. 

As  our  boat  came  suddenly  to  the  green  bank  of  this 
little  stream,  we  surprised  one  of  Po  Adam's  young  wives, 
with  her  shawl  thrown  from  off  her  shoulders,  leaving  her 
breast  and  gracefully  curved  amber  arms  uncovered,  while 
she  seemed  like  some  water  nymph  just  escaping  from 
the  stream  where  she  had  been  bathing.  A  small  dish  of 
fish  nicely  dressed  declared  the  errand  of  the  Naiad.  She 
was  quite  pretty,  with  the  exception  of  the  nose — a  feature, 
which  the  Malays  insist  on  flattening.  A  nose  as  wide 
as  it  is  long  is  regarded  by  them  as  nearly  the  perfection 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  303 

of  beauty,  as  it  is  a  perfect  square.  But  nature,  in  this 
instance  of  Po  Adam's  youngest  espoused,  resolved  not 
to  resign  all  her  rights  of  sovereignty  ;  and  in  some  other 
instances  I  have  seen  native  women  of  this  place  who 
possessed  a  share  of  feminine  softness,  and  that  species 
of  beauty  which  consists  in  the  rotund  Egyptian  style  of 
feature. 

A  narrow  path  led  us  through  a  beautiful  green  field 
of  rice,  surrounded  by  a  range  of  banana-trees,  contrast- 
ing with  their  light  yellow  green  and  wide-spreading  leaves, 
with  the  deeper  green  of  the  bay  and  cocoa-nut  and  the 
palm.  We  reached  the  house  of  Po  Adam,  surrounded 
by  a  bamboo  fence,  which  included  several  other  buildings 
occupied  by  his  men  and  friends. 

We  drank  of  tke  cocoa-nuts,  which  were  brought  us  ; 
and  soon  two  of  the  Rajahs,  the  principal  two  of  the  place, 
were  present,  with  their  seals,  ready  to  place  their  impres- 
sions to  the  following  document,  which  had  been  previous- 
ly prepared. 

AGREEMENT    OF    THE    RAJAHS. 

"  WE  THE  RAJAHS  OF  Soo-Soo,  for  ourselves  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Soo-Soo  on  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  sen- 
sibly affected  by  the  clemency  practised  towards  us,  on  the 
late  visit  of  the  frigate  Columbia  and  the  John  Adams,  do 
hereby  pledge  ourselves  to  suffer  no  American  vessel  to  be 
molested  hereafter,  and  by  all  means  in  our  power  to  pre- 
vent all  wicked  designs  for  annoying  or  in  any  way  injur- 
ing them. 

"  Should  we  ever  hear  of  any  plan  being  laid  for  the 
capture  of  an  American  vessel,  we  engage,  forthwith,  to 
give  notice  of  the  same  to  the  commander  or  whoever 
may  be  on  board  said  vessel,  in  time  for  them  to  prepare 
themselves  for  the  defence  of  their  lives  and  the  protection 
of  their  property. 

"  And  we  do  further  pledge  ourselves,  that  in  case  any 
piratical  expedition  should  at  any  time  hereafter  be  at- 
tempted, or  successful  plunder  be  committed  upon  any 
American  vessel,  and  the  plunderers  should  take  refuge 
amongst  us,  we  will  secure  their  persons  and  the  property 


304  A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

taken,  in  the  best  manner  we  can,  and  keep  them  until 
they  can  be  delivered  to  the  first  vessel  of  war  of  the  United 
States  of  America  which  shall  arrive  on  the  coast,  or  to 
any  merchantman  who  shall  be  willing  to  take  them  to  the 
United  States  for  their  trial.  But  we  profess  our  utter  ina- 
bility to  comply  with  the  demand  for  the  delivering  up  of 
the  pirates,  and  the  property  belonging  to  the  ship  Eclipse 
• — the  pirates  having  fled  from  the  place  the  moment  it 
was  known  that  the  United  States  ships  of  war  had  come 
to  Soo-Soo,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  them. 

"  In  short,  we  promise  to  do  all  that  lies  in  our  power 
to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  United  States,  which  we 
know  to  be  our  interest  to  preserve,  and  which  we  here 
solemnly  pledge  ourselves,  henceforth,  in  every  way,  to  en- 
deavor to  maintain. 

"In  testimony  of  these  our  desires  and  our  solemn 
pledges,  we  hereto  affix  our  several  signatures  and  seals. 

"  DATU  BUGAH, 
"  DATU  BUGENAH, 
"  DATU  MODAH, 
"  DATU  UMPATE. 

"  To  Commodore  George  C.  Read,  commanding  the  American  ships 
cf  war,  off  Soo-Soo,  January  8th,  1839." 

The  seals  of  the  Rajahs  were  made  of  brass,  cut  with 
Arabic  characters.  The  surface  of  the  stamp,  for  such 
was  its  character,  being  an  engraved  brass  plate,  attached 
to  a  wooden  handle,  was  now  held  over  the  flame  of  a 
cocoa-nut  oil  lamp,  until  the  lamp-black,  or  the  smoke  of 
the  lamp  had  well  coated  the  surface  of  the  seal,  and  the 
flame  had  heated  it  for  the  impression.  One  of  the  Rajahs, 
with  a  small  weapon  from  his  girdle,  split  a  green  beetel- 
nut ;  and  with  half  of  it  the  paper  was  moistened  for  the 
impression  of  the  heated  and  blackened  stamp.  The  heat- 
ed seal  was  then  applied,  and  left  its  dark  ground  on  the 
sheet,  with  the  Arabic  letters  containing  the  name  of  the 
Rajah  in  a  relief  of  white. 

The  Rajahs,  at  the  time,  seemed  to  be  impressed  with 
the  solemnity  of  the  transaction  ;  but  whether  it  will  result 
in  any  restraint  upon  themselves  or  people,  after  our  de- 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          305 

parture  from  the  coast,  remains  a  problem  which  a  short 
time  only  can  evolve. 

Two  of  the  four  Rajahs  of  Soo-Soo  not  being  present 
when  the  principal  ones  affixed  their  seals  to  the  preced- 
ing paper,  it  was  proposed  that  the  names  of  the  other 
two  should  be  appended  to  the  instrument  the  succeeding 
day,  in  the  presence  of  the  Rajahs  who  had  already  signed 
it ;  and,  accordingly,  another  interview  for  this  purpose 
was  fixed  upon,  to  take  place  the  succeeding  morning. 


RAMBLE. 


I  took  a  stroll  from  Po  Adam's  residence,  embowered 
in  all  the  variety  of  Asiatic  fruit-trees,  through  several  ad- 
jacent bamboo  gates  and  bamboo  enclosures,  inwalling  a 
cluster  of  some  four  or  five  houses  in  each  area,  alike 
shaded  by  the  clustering  trees.  There  are  no  streets 
through  the  town,  but  by-paths,  to  be  threaded  only  by  foot 
passengers — neither  horses  nor  other  animals  being  used 
here,  either  for  the  purpose  of  burden  or  tillage.  While 
passing  through  one  of  these  enclosures,  I  suddenly  came 
upon  a  very  respectable  looking  Malay,  who  was  dandling 
in  his  arms  an  infant  of  two  or  three  months  of  age,  with 
its  mother  near.  I  felt  that  I  had  a  secret  to  the  hearts, 
even  of  savages,  if  such  were  before  me,  where  they  felt 
as  much  pleasure  as  these  Malays  exhibited  in  their  coun- 
tenances as  they  petted  this  rather  interesting  little  urchin. 
They  were  parents,  and  this  was  their  child.  I  approached 
them  by  surprise,  and  taking  a  vest  button,  with  an  eagle 
stamped  upon  it,  I  placed  it  to  the  neck  of  the  little  child, 
indicating  that  the  mother,  with  a  string,  should  make  a 
necklace  of  it  for  the  piccaninny.  The  mother  received 
it  with  a  mother's  smile  ;  and  whistling  kindly  myself,  as 
well  as  I  knew  how,  (I  have  always  abominated  whistlers 
as  invariably  ill-bred  men,)  to  please  the  little  chubby,  I 
passed  on.  But  that  would  not  do.  The  next  moment 
I  was  seized  by  the  arm,  and  I  must  wait  a  moment,  as  my 
captor  indicated  ;  and  I  had  only  turned,  when  I  perceived 
this  Malay  mother  waving  from  the  verandah  of  the  house, 
into  which  she  had  suddenly  ascended  by  a  step-ladder,  a 
bundle  of  white  grass,  and  I  was  begged  by  the  movement 

26* 


306  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

to  accept  it.  I  declined  taking  it,  when  the  disappointed 
woman,  in  an  instant,  waved  another  and  larger  bundle 
from  above  me,  with  a  kind  smile  that  said,  I  would  give 
you  a  more  valuable  present  did  we  possess  it.  I  at  once 
recollected  myself,  and  took  two  threads  from  the  bundle, 
and  winding  it  carefully,  put  it  into  my  pocket,  assuring 
them  that  this  was  enough  as  a  specimen,  and  I  would  keep 
it,  as  a  remembrance  of  the  little  Malayu  and  his  parents. 
As  I  made  another  attempt  to  leave  the  grounds,  they  still 
insisted  that  I  must  delay,  to  take  some  cocoa-nuts.  I  had 
seen  one  of  their  slaves  rush  from  the  gate  a  moment 
before,  and  he  now  had  returned  with  a  large  monkey  ; 
a  line  of  great  length  being,  in  a  small  coil,  attached  to 
him.  The  monkey  knew  his  business  better  than  I  could 
conjecture  it,  as  the  next  moment  he  was  seen  ascending 
an  immensely  tall  cocoa-nut  tree,  on  the  stem  of  which, 
fifty  feet  up,  not  a  branch  put  out,  and  from  the  top  of 
which  the  gracefully  bending  leaves,  with  their  long  stems, 
together  formed  an  umbrella,  as  it  were,  to  keep  the  water 
of  the  cocoa-nuts,  which  were  clustering  about  the  top  of 
the  trunk,  from  boiling  in  the  hot  sun,  and  preserving  it 
cool  and  refreshing,  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  heated  na- 
tive. 

Jacko  was  directed  on  which  long  stem  of  the  branch- 
ing leaf  he  should  place  himself,  and  the  six  cocoa-nuts  he 
must  select.  The  animal  accomplished  the  whole  of  the 
command  in  a  few  moments,  and  the  cocoa-nuts  fell  from 
the  top.  These  were  opened  for  me,  and  I  partook  of  the 
acceptable  beverage. 

"  Good-by,  good-by.  Malayu,"  I  said,  and  again  attempt- 
ed to  make  my  escape,  but  the  kind  hearts  of  this  Ma1  ay 
couple  begged  that  I  would  let  the  sailor  who  was  accom- 
panying me  take  for  me  a  handsome  game-cock,  which 
had*  been  caught  in  these  few  minutes,  and  which  a  slave 
was  now  holding  for  my  acceptance.  I  begged  that  I 
might  be  excused,  as  the  hour  was  already  passed  when  I 
was  to  be  with  the  Rajahs,  and  I  would  come  and  see  them 
again  to-morrow. 

"  Come,  true,"  said  the  Malay,  "  and  I  will  have  a  chi- 
nam  shell  for  you." 

The  succeeding  morning,  agreeably  to  the  appointment, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  307 

the  four  Rajahs  were  assembled,  and  the  names  of  the 
other  two  were  affixed  to  the  letter  of  obligation,  which  they 
had  mutually  entered  into,  and  addressed,  as  already  cop- 
ied, to  Commodore  Read.  I  accompanied  Captain  Wyman 
to  the  shore  to  witness  the  completion  of  this  instrument. 
We  then  wandered  through  the  town,  the  inhabitants  hav- 
ing partially  recovered  from  their  apprehensions,  though 
the  women  and  the  young  children  generally  made  the 
quickest  speed  possible  to  reach  the  verandahs  of  their 
bamboo  houses  as  we  passed.  The  Rajahs  expressed  a 
desire  to  visit  the  ship,  and  were  invited  to  do  so. 

"  Soo-Soo  safe  now,"  was  added  in  their  own  style  of  a 
mongrel  English  ;  "  we  no  fight  now — we  friends  ;"  and, 
with  an  amicable  shake  of  the  hand  and  the  drinking  of 
the  delicious  water  from  the  fresh  cocoa-nuts,  ended  the 
interview. 


TALK    WITH    PO    KWALA. 

Pulau  Kayu  is  a  fort  which  is  situated  on  the  point  inter- 
mediate between  Kwala  Batu  and  Soo-Soo,  little  less  than 
three  miles  distant  from  each,  and  the  nearest  point  of  land 
to  our  ships,  as  they  are  now  moored  a  mile  distant  from 
the  shore. 

Po  Adam  formerly  resided  here,  and  gave  us  to  suppose 
that  he  had  the  best  right  to  the  fort  still,  and  is  quite  desirous 
that  the  Commodore  should  restore  it  to  him.  There  would 
be  no  hesitation  on  the  subject,  could  it  be  ascertained  that 
his  claims  are  just.  But  the  representations  of  others  de- 
clare that  Po  Adam  always  held  Pulau  Kayu  as  a  tenant 
at  will,  and  was  displaced  by  the  present  Rajah  or  his 
father,  in  consequence  of  some  commercial  misunderstand- 
ing between  him  and  Po  Adam.  The  present  Rajah  of  the 
place  is  Taku  Yah-Housin,  and  a  relative  of  Po  Kwala, 
the  Pedir  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu. 

Since  our  return  from  Muckie,  Po  itwala  has  manifested 
the  greatest  desire  to  make  peace  with  the  Commodore. 
His  fort  at  Kwala  Batu  was  fired  into  by  the  John  Adams, 
at  the  cannonading  of  that  town,  riddled  and  battered. 
He  displayed  during  the  whole  time  a  white  flag,  and  sev- 
eral messages  to  the  Commodore  were  sent  on  board.  But 


308  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

it  was  the  purpose  of  Commodore  Read  to  hold  no  definite 
communication  with  this  Rajah  unless  he  came  on  board 
the  Columbia.  His  fort  was  the  one  which  opened  on  the 
boats  of  the  Potomac  as  they  were  disembarking,  after 
their  landing  and  fight,  when  she  was  on  this  coast. 

It  was  evident  however  that  Po  Kwala  was  unwilling 
to  trust  his  person  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans  until  some 
treaty  had  been  made,  and  presents  of  buffaloes  and  other 
testimonies  of  friendship  had  been  accepted. 

To-day,  however,  accompanied  by  Captain  Silver,  of 
the  ship  Sumatra,  which  has  been  lying  outside  of  us  for  a 
day  or  two,  I  went  on  shore  with  Lieutenant  Pennock  to 
meet  Po  Kwala  at  Palau  Kayu,  the  fort  occupied  by  his 
kinsman.  And  the  Rajah  promised  the  captain  a  favora- 
ble contract,  and  would  soon  load  his  ship  with  pepper,  if 
Commodore  Read  could  be  induced  to  make  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  him. 

We  landed  amidst  a  large  number  of  men,  bearing  as 
usual  their  long  blades  and  krises.  Po  Nyah-heit  met  us 
and  conducted  us  to  the  verandah,  constituting  the  council- 
hall.  It  was  a  covered  portico,  elevated  some  feet  from 
the  ground,  open  on  its  three  sides,  and  extending  the  whole 
length  of  the  bamboo  house.  Cocoa-nuts,  us  usual,  were 
brought  fresh  from  the  trees,  wrhich  were  now  embowering 
us ;  and  with  their  blades,  always  very  sharp  weapons, 
several  of  the  men  soon  chipped  off  one  end  of  the  cocoa- 
nuts,  and  having  laid  the  inner  shell  bare,  they  applied  the 
point  of  their  keen  daggers  to  the  soft  part  of  the  bowl 
containing  the  milk,  and  passed  the  refreshing  goblet,  na- 
ture's unperverted  gift,  to  our  acceptance.  We  drank  of 
the  cooling  liquid,  while  the  brother  of  Po  Kwala,  Po  Nyah- 
heit,  and  the  Rajah  of  Pulau  Kayu  occupied  their  conspicu- 
ous places  on  the  council-mats,  as  their  men  surrounded 
the  verandah. 

"  Why  Po  Kwala  no  come  ?"  asked  the  captain,  after 
the  cocoa-nuts  had  been  passed,  in  that  style  of  language 
which  the  Malays  use  when  attempting  English. 

"  Po  Kwala  come  soon — four  men  gone  for  Po  Kwala," 
was  the  reply.  Captain  S.  had  seen  the  Rajah  the  evening 
previous,  who  assured  him  that  he  would  meet  any  propo- 
sition that  might  be  made  the  next  morning,  and  would  be 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  309 

at  the  point  to  attend  the  council  desired.  But  there  is 
always  great  ceremony  on  the  part  of  these  Malay  Rajahs, 
when  they  are  to  appear  in  council.  Two  or  three  sets 
of  men  are  despatched,  to  let  the  Rajah  know  that  his  pres- 
ence is  desired,  and  his  delay  is  generally  measured  for  its 
length  by  the  greater  or  less  consideration  with  which  he 
is  held  by  his  followers. 

"  Po  Kwala  no  come  yet — how  much  longer  Po  Kwala 
make,  and  Po  Kwala  come  ?"  was  again  asked  by  Captain 
S.,  after  another  interval  had  passed,  during  which  Po 
Nyah-heit  had  informed  the  captain  that  he  esteemed  me  as 
his  particular  friend,  thinking  that  I  had  served  him  in  some 
two  or  three  instances ;  and  in  a  few  moments  more  a 
small  buffalo  pranced  along  the  end  of  the  verandah,  with 
a  rope  affixed  to  his  head,  by  which  it  was  tied  to  a  cocoa- 
nut  tree  in  front  of  the  verandah.  It  was  to  be  a  present 
from  Taku  Yah-Housin,  the  chief  of  Palau  Kayu,  who  was 
now  sitting  in  the  council. 

Po  Kwala  not  yet  having  reached  the  point,  we  took  a 
stroll  over  the  grounds  and  through  the  forts  which  consti- 
tute the  location  of  Palau  Kayu.  The  point  is  crowded 
with  trees  bearing  a  great  variety  of  fruits,  magnificent  in 
their  size  and  beautiful  in  their  every  variety  of  green  fo- 
liage. The  cocoa-nut  tree  is  the  first  that  attracts  the  eye ; 
its  stem  rising  boughless,  high  up,  and  terminating  with 
long  branching  leaves,  which  curve  over  gracefully  like 
an  umbrella,  at  the  junction  of  which  with  the  stem,  the 
fruit  clusters  at  the  head  of  the  trunk  of  this  peculiar  tree. 
It  would  look  too  stiff  and  naked  were  it  standing  alone ; 
but  they  stand  in  groves,  and  their  naked  stems  are  con- 
cealed more  or  less  by  the  graceful  palm,  which  serves  this 
people  as  a  building  material  in  constructing  their  light 
houses,  and  entirely  for  their  roofs.  But  the  yet  more  grace- 
ful bamboo  waves  everywhere,  blending  its  deep  green  and 
feathery  top  wherever  nature  would  soften  this  otherwise 
harsh  scenery  of  the  East.  The  tamarind  tree,  and  the 
mango,  and  the  wide-leaf  plantain,  and  banana,  and  name- 
less other  trees  are  seen  yielding  to  the  hands  of  these  in- 
dolent Malays  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  giving  a  luxuri- 
riance  to  the  appearance  of  the  country,  which  assures 
one  what  it  might  be  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  and 
industrious  people. 


310  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  principal  fort  is  stronger  than  any  other  which  I 
have  seen  on  the  coast,  while  they  all  seem  to  have  but  one 
model.  An  area  is  enclosed  by  a  bamboo  stockade,  the 
bamboo  often  still  growing,  and  thus  lasting  for  a  long  peri- 
od. Around  this  stockade  a  thick  cluster  of  trees  and  briers 
soon  form  themselves,  rendering  a  passage  through  the 
jungle  or  hedge  thus  formed  almost  impracticable  to  the  na- 
tive. On  one  corner  of  this  area,  or  at  the  part  where  the 
best  defence  can  be  made,  an  outwork  is  raised,  being  the 
positions  of  the  guns  upon  the  mole.  Between  this  eleva- 
tion and  the  first  enclosure  is  a  space,  and  the  passage  from 
the  first  area  over  the  stockade,  to  the  outwork,  is  by  as- 
cending a  flight  of  steps  to  a  plank,  leading  from  the  large 
enclosure  to  the  raised  abutment,  on  which  the  guns  are 
placed  ;  and  the  plank  is  so  disposed  that  in  case  a  force 
should  make  their  way  into  the  stockaded  enclosure,  the 
plank  can  be  raised  like  a  drawbridge,  and  still  impede 
the  advancing  party  in  their  approach  to  the  stronghold, 
the  passage-way  to  which  is  usually  defended  by  one  of 
the  mounted  cannon. 

It  is  wholly  constructed  for  self-defence  against  any  at- 
tacking party  on  land,  and  would  afford  a  place  of  some 
security  in  the  perpetually  occurring  feuds  between  the  dif- 
ferent clans  and  big  men  of  the  coast.  They  are  of  little 
consequence  however  in  an  attack  made  by  an  European 
or  American  force.  The  torch  would  soon  render  the 
place  intolerable,  and  a  few  axes  would  open  a  passage  in 
any  part  of  it,  while  the  gate  itself  would  give  way  to  a 
few  blows  from  the  sledge-hammer  wielded  by  an  arm  of 
the  muscular  power  of  our  blacksmith. 

The  guns  of  the  forts  are  miserably  mounted  six-pound- 
ers. In  the  furthermost  fort  on  the  point,  the  guns  had 
been  buried ;  the  Rajah  fearing  that  we  might  land  and 
spike  them,  or  take  them  from  their  place.  The  spot 
where  they  had  been  covered  for  their  preservation,  was 
pointed  out  to  us. 

We  returned  to  the  verandah,  but  Po  Kwala  had  not 
yet  made  his  appearance,  though  we  had  been  ashore  for 
nearly  two  hours,  and  it  was  now  nearly  twelve  o'clock. 

"  Tell  Po  Nyah-heit  and  the  others,"  I  said  to  the  inter- 
preter, "  that  we  wait  no  longer.  If  Po  Kwala  wants  to 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  311 

make  talk  he  must  come  soon  or  not  at  all.  To-day  we  are 
willing  to  talk  with  him,  and  we  have  no  more  talk  after 
to-day." 

"  He  come" — "  he  coming,"  added  two  or  three  voices, 
as  they  stretched  their  eye  along  the  beach,  to  which  they 
had  before  turned,  marking  out  the  point  from  which  they 
expected  him. 

"  Po  Kwala  wants  to  bring  buffaloes — Po  Kwala  come 
some  distance — Po  Kwala  come  soon — true." 

Po  Nyah-heit  had  only  listened  to  the  interpretation  of 
what  was  addressed  to  them,  and  marked  the  air  of  impa- 
tience and  determination  with  which  it  had  been  spoken. 
He  rose  from  his  mat,  retiring  from  the  council,  and  put 
his  head  through  a  door,  which  led  from  the  verandah.  His 
call  being  replied  to  from  within,  he  immediately  entered. 
In  a  few  moments  he  reappeared  with  seven  followers, 
each  having  a  cleaver  in  his  right  hand,  a  kris  in  his  gir- 
dle, and  a  blunderbuss  upon  his  left  shoulder  ;  and  in  a 
moment  after  was  threading  his  way  with  his  followers, 
in  Indian  file,  along  the  beach. 

"  Po  Nyah-heit  make  fight  ?"  asked  the  Captain. 

"  Po  Nyah-heit  go  for  Po  Kwala,"  was  the  reply. 

A  few  moments  more  and  they  were  lost  to  the  sight 
around  a  neighboring  point  of  land.  One  of  his  seven  re- 
tainers who  now  followed  him  was  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  rest.  He  was  a  tall  CafFre,  with  high  cheek-bones  but 
long  face,  with  a  skin  darker  than  the  blackest  night,  and 
teeth  of  jet  in  contrast  with  the  bright  color  of  the  inner 
surface  of  his  large  lips,  which  glowed  deeper  than  the 
reddest  enamel  of  a  sea-conch.  He  wore  a  scarlet  jacket, 
and  a  light  turban  twisted  around  a  red  skull-cap.  One 
would  pause  and  look  three  times  before  he  advanced  to 
meet  such  a  figure,  should  he  happen  to  cross  his  path  ; 
but  his  third  look  would  assure  him  that  his  confronter 
was  a  coward,  and  would  retreat  after  the  first  discharge 
of  his  blunderbuss,  and  postpone  his  murderous  deeds  to 
be  done  by  stealth.  This  dark  Caffre  is  evidently  a  fa- 
vorite slave  of  Po  Nyah-heit's,  and  once  seen  would  al- 
ways be  remembered  as  one  of  Po  Nyah-heit's  train  of 
followers. 

"  Po  Kwala  come,"  said  one  of  the  chiefs,  as  his  eye 


312  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

rested  on  two  figures,  winding  their  way  back,  though  in 
the  distance,  on  the  beach. 

"  True  ?"  asked  the  Captain,  as  he  seemed  himself  to 
begin  to  fear  that  the  Rajah's  heart  would  fail  him,  having 
apprehended  that  some  train  might  be  laid  for  securing 
his  person.  In  another  moment  a  hundred  more  men 
doubled  around  the  point,  and  left  it  certain  that  the  two 
in  advance  were  Po  Nyah-heit  and  Po  Kwala. 

A  single  Malay  entered  the  verandah  and  placed  him- 
self behind  Captain  S.,  apparently  unobserved,  and  whis- 
pered low:  "  Captain  Silver  heart  and  Po  Kwala  heart  one 
— the  same.  Po  Kwala  safe  ?"  asked  the  solicitous  Malay, 
who,  with  others,  had  evidently  been  sent  ahead  to  make 
their  observations  and  to  report,  if  necessary. 

It  was  evident  that  Po  Kwala  was  now  near;  and  in  a 
moment  more  two  magnificent  bullocks,  with  their  heads 
up  and  their  horns  sloping  back  almost  to  their  hips,  were 
led  around  the  verandah,  and  exhibited  themselves  with  a 
step  that  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  were  conscious  of 
their  superior  blood  and  royal  ownership. 

"Beautiful  creatures!"  involuntarily  escaped  me,  as  I 

fazed  on  these  sleek   animals,  round  and  plump  as  the 
nest  prize  ox  that  ever  riband  ornamented,  and  shining 
with  as  clean  a  coat  of  glossy  hair  as  the  finest  groomed 
steed  of  a  nobleman. 

"  Beautiful !"  was  re-echoed  by  another,  and  the  snuff- 
ing and  gentle  creatures  in  their  jet  and  fawn  beauty,  sur- 
passing any  thing  I  ever  before  saw  of  the  bovine  genus 
of  animals,  now  passed  by  the  verandah  to  the  shade  of 
the  cocoa-nut  trees,  as  Po  Kwala  came  up  from  the  beach 
and  entered  the  council-chamber. 

He  was  not  that  cut-throat  looking  individual  which  he 
had  been  represented  to  be.  His  person  was  rather  small, 
his  deportment  more  gentlemanly  than  any  other  Rajah's 
I  have  met  with,  with  an  unaffected  air,  which  declared 
him  to  be  of  a  family  above  the  mass  who  surrounded  him, 
though  a  little  solicitude  could  occasionally  be  detected  in 
the  roll  of  his  eye.  His  dark  jacket  was  edged  with  lace, 
and  a  gold  china m  box  and  nobs  ornamented  the  silk  hand- 
kerchief containing  his  beetel-nut,  and  thrown  carelessly 
over  his  shoulders  ;  while  a  richly  mounted  poniard  with 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  313 

a  highly  ornamental  hilt  and  gold  scabbard,  studded  his 
girdle. 

He  took  his  seat  at  the  head  of  the  verandah,  and  after 
the  cocoa-nuts  had  passed  around,  the  interpreter  was  di- 
rected to  say  that  the  Rajah  had  been  expected  on  board 
last  evening,  but  having  delayed  to  visit  the  ship  and  yet 
expressing  his  earnest  desire  to  make  peace  with  the  Com- 
modore, we  had  come  ashore  to  hold  a  talk  with  him. 
Was  he  ready  to  commence  it  ? 

The  Rajah  expressed  his  desire  to  hear  what  the  Com- 
modore had  directed  to  be  communicated. 

"  Tell  the  Rajah,  Jones,"  (the  name  of  our  interpreter,) 
"  that  the  Americans  desire  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with 
the  Rajahs  and  their  people  on  the  coast — that  we  do  not 
desire  to  injure  them,  but  to  further  the  interests  of  both 
themselves  and  our  people — that  we  desire  a  peaceful  in- 
tercourse, but  that  we  have  come  on  the  coast  again  to 
show  that  we  have  the  power  to  protect  our  commerce, 
and  that  we  not  only  have  the  power  but  the  determina- 
tion to  inflict  chastisement  upon  those  who  commit  acts 
of  piracy  against  our  traders,  and  on  all  who  shelter  them. 
We  have  now  done  so.  Other  vessels  of  war  would  be 
on  the  coast  in  due  time,  and  if  similar  occurrences  should 
take  place  to  those  which  had  befallen  the  Eclipse,  the 
murderers  and  the  robbers  would  be  punished.  It  was 
expected  by  the  Commodore,  from  all  with  whom  he  en- 
tered into  an  agreement  of  peace  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  that  they  should  engage  most  solemnly  that  they 
would  do  all  in  their  power  to  prevent  any  further  piracies 
on  the  coast — that  in  case  any  attack  should  he  projected 
(it  was  hoped  that  there  would  never  be  another,  but  if 
there  should  be)  and  the  Rajah  should  hear  of  it,  he  must 
at  once  give  information  to  the  captain  and  the  hands  on 
board  the  vessel;  and  if  any  of  the  pirates  should  take  re- 
fuge in  any  Rajah's  particular  jurisdiction,  he  will  ap- 
prehend them  and  retain  them  for  the  first  man-of-war 
that  afterwards  comes  on  the  coast.  Would  the  Rajah 
solemnly  pledge  himself  in  these  particulars,  if  the  Com- 
modore would  treat  with  him?*' 

"  The  Rajah  will  pledge,"  was  the  reply. 

Then  tell  the  Rajah  that  we  have  here  a  paper  which 
27 


314          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

embraces  these  particulars  and  pledges,  to  which  it  is 
required  that  he  will  affix  his  seal, — himself  to  retain  a 
duplicate  of  the  paper,  as  evidence  of  fhe  pledges  made. 
If  any  of  his  men  understand  English,  they  will  be  good 
enough  to  attend,  and  mark  that  the  sentences  are  correct- 
ly interpreted. 

The  following  paper  was  then  interpreted,  sentence  by 
sentence,  to  the  Rajah,  a  number  of  those  around  assenting 
audibly  to  the  correspondence  of  the  English  with  the 
sense  of  each  sentence,  as  given  in  Malayu  to  the  Rajah. 
The  date  of  it  was  explained  to  him,  as  it  had  been  pre- 
pared the  last  evening,  in  expectation  of  his  coming  off  to 
the  Columbia,  to  sign  the  paper. 

"  United  States  Frigate  Columbia,  off  Soo-Soo, 
"January  llth,  1839." 

"  Po  Kwala,  Pedir  Rajah  at  Kwala  Batu,  having  come 
on  board  of  the  Columbia  with  desires  to  make  peace  with 
the  Government  of  the  United  States, 

"  HEREBY  DECLARES,  that  henceforth  he  will  use  every 
effort,  on  his  part,  to  assist  the  American  ships  which  may 
be  trading  on  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  and  bring  all 
means  in  his  power  to  suppress  all  piracies  on  the  coast. 
And  in  case  any  designed  robbery  or  attack  upon  any 
American  vessel  should  be  known  to  him,  he  will  use-  his 
power  to  stop  it,  and  give  immediate  information  to  the 
captain  and  all  who  may  be  on  board,  for  their  defence 
and  protection. 

"  And  should  any  of  his  men  be  guilty  of  the  crime  of 
piracy  against  an  American  vessel ;  or,  should  any  pirates 
take  refuge  among  his  people,  he  pledges  himself  that  they 
shall  be  punished  by  death,  or  given  up  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  for  trial,  on  the  demand  of  the 
commander  of  any  armed  United  States  vessel,  or  to  the 
captain  of  any  merchantman  who  may  be  willing  to  take 
them  to  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  In  testimony  of  these  feelings,  Po  Kwala  hereto  affixes 
his  signature  and  seal." 

Every  word  of  this  document  was  listened  to  with  great 
attention,  as  it  was  interpreted  sufficiently  loud  for  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  315 

large  number  of  Po  Kwala's  men  to  hear,  who  had  now 
crowded  into  the  verandah  and  around  its  balustrade. 

The  Rajah  took  his  seal  to  apply  it  to  the  instrument. 

"  We  speak  true — we  have  but  one  tongue,  tell  the 
Rajah — and  ask  him  if  he  fully  understands  the  paper  as 
it  has  been  interpreted." 

"  True — we  understand,"  was  the  reply  from  the  Rajah 
and  several  of  his  chief  men  ;  while  a  peal  of  thunder  sud- 
denly rolled  loud  and  long  above  the  verandah,  telling  the 
near  approach  of  a  gathering  shower.  The  profound 
calm  of  a  death-scene  reigned,  while  the  Rajah  still  held 
his  seal. 

"  Tell  the  Rajah,  that  he  hears  the  voice  of  Allah  speak- 
ing above  us.  We  do  all  in  Allah's  name.  Ask  if  he 
pledges  himself  with  equal  solemnity  and  truth." 

"  True — in  Allah's  name  I  pledge,"  was  the  reply  ;  and 
his  seal  was  on  the  paper. 

It  was  a  striking  coincidence,  that  solemn  roll  of  thun- 
der through  the  heavens  at  this  moment,  and  every  Malay 
suppressed  his  breath  in  the  stillness  that  reigned.  They 
are  said  to  be  greatly  timid  in  a  thunder-storm  ;  and  while 
witnessing  the  present  scene,  in  their  present  circum- 
stances, there  must  have  been  deepness  added  to  the  emo- 
tion of  profound  veneration  that  came  over  the  spirit,  as 
the  voice  of  God  was  heard  so  audibly  in  his  works. 
•  The  seal  of  the  Rajah  having  been  affixed,  the  instru- 
ment was  witnessed  by 

TUKU  NYAH-OUSSIN, 
Po  NYAH-HEIT, 
TUKU  NYAH-AHLEE, 

FITCH  W.  TAYLOR,  Chaplain  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia ; 
ALEXANDER  PENNOCK,  Act.  Lieut.  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia  ; 
PETER  SILVER,  Commander  of  ship  Sumatra  ; 
J.  HENSHAW  BELCHER,  Prof,  of  Math.  U.  S.  Fr.  Columbia. 

"  We  are  now  at  peace,  and  hope  we  shall  long  be 
friends,"  it  was  said,  as  the  two  parties  shook  the  hand  of 
the  other,  in  token  of  their  future  friendly  purposes. 

"  Stay  a  moment,"  was  the  request  of  the  Rajah,  while 
he  offered  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Commodore  the  two 


316  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

magnificent  bullocks  that  had  been  led  past  the  verandah, 
and  tendered  another  to  Captain  Silver. 

They  were  accepted,  and  the  Rajah  invited  to  visit  the 
ship.  He  placed  himself  in  the  boat  with  his  brother,  Po 
Nyah-heit,  the  Rajah  of  Pulau  Kayu,  and  the  boat  pulled 
for  the  Columbia.  I  had  ascended  from  the  boat  over  the 
gangway  to  the  deck  of  the  frigate,  and  watched  the  Ra- 
jah as  he  descended  the  steps  to  the  deck.  His  attendants 
had  advanced  before  him.  The  Rajah,  on  reaching  the 
highest  step  of  the  gangway,  paused  hesitatingly  an  in- 
stant, and  then  came  down  to  the  deck. 

They  visited  the  cabin,  and  paid  their  respects  to  the 
Commodore,  who  now  affixed  his  signature  to  the  instru- 
ment which  had  been  signed  by  the  Rajah.  Having  been 
shown  over  the  ship,  they  left  her  again,  doubtless  duly 
impressed  with  our  power — the  Rajah  expressing  his  high 
gratification  and  surprise,  and  desire  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity further  to  listen  to  the  music — the  bass-drum  par- 
ticularly attracting  his  attention. 

And,  should  I  judge  from  the  Rajah's  unwillingness  to 
come  on  board  until  after  the  treaty  was  signed,  and  the 
buffaloes  were  accepted — and  the  little  reluctance  which 
seemed  occasionally  to  affect  him  afterwards — and  the 
doubt  of  security  manifesting  itself  as  he  came  over  the 
gangway — I  take  it  that  his  Rajahship  was  greatly  happy 
when  he  found  himself,  with  his  head  still  on,  once  more 
safely  on  shore.  The  next  day  he  would  have  visited  the 
ship,  but  it  rained  in  torrents ;  and  the  second  morning 
after,  at  daylight,  the  ships  were  unmoored  and  again 
standing  on  their  course  at  sea. 

From  the  despatches  of  Commodore  Read  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  containing  full  accounts  of  the  action 
of  the  squadron,  on  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  I  extract 
the  following  paragraphs,  commendatory  of  the  officers 
named,  when  alluding  to  the  expedition  at  Muckie. 

"  For  the  performance  and  execution  of  this  service, 
Commander  T.  W.  Wyman  exhibited  a  promptness  and 
energy  which  could  not  be  surpassed  ;  and  had  an  enemy 
appeared  to  oppose  the  advance  of  the  party,  his  gallantry 
would  have  been  conspicuous. 

"  To  Lieutenant  Magruder,  executive  officer  of  the  Co- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  317 

lumbia,  I  feel  much  indebted  for  the  good  order  and  expe- 
dition with  which  the  men  from  the  Columbia  were  landed 
and  led  by  him,  and  for  the  previous  training  they  had 
received,  the  advantages  of  which  were  now  apparent. 

"  Lieutenants  Turk,  Turner,  and  Pennock,  merit  my 
warm  acknowledgments,  as  leaders  of  their  separate  di- 
visions ;  and  the  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Baker,  who  led 
the  marines,  deserves  my  unqualified  approbation.  Much 
was  expected  from  the  marines  on  the  occasion,  and  much 
no  doubt  would  have  been  done,  had  further  proof  of 
their  skill  and  discipline  been  required. 

"  Acting  Master  Jenkins,  Midshipmen  Crawford,  No- 
land,  Barney,  Smith,  Sincler,  Green,  Toomer,  Fauntleroy, 
McCormick,  and  Donaldson ;  Mr.  Belcher,  Professor  of 
Mathematics,  Mr.  Martin  the  Gunner,  Mr.  Crow  the  Sail- 
maker,  were  all  embarked  in  this  enterprise,  and  are  spo- 
ken of  in  terms  of  praise  by  Commander  Wyman,  to  whose 
report,  sent  herewith,  I  must  refer  you  for  the  further 
particulars  of  this  affair,  and  for  the  names  of  those  of- 
ficers who  landed  with  him  from  the  John  Adams.  He 
speaks  in  high  terms  of  them  all,  and  gives  me  every 
reason  to  believe  that  they  merit  my  approbation  and 
thanks." 

27* 


A 

VOYAGE    ROUND    THE    WORLD, 


AND  VISITS  TO 


VARIOUS  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES, 

IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES  FRIGATE  COLUMBIA; 

ATTENDED  BY  HER  CONSORT 

THE  SLOOP  OF  WAR  JOHN  ADAMS, 

AND  COMMANDED  EY 

COMMODORE  GEORGE  C.  READ. 

ALSO  INCLUDING 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BOMBARDING  AND  FIRING  OF  THE  TOWN  OF  MUCKIE,  ON  THE  MALAY 

COAST,  AND  THE  VISIT  OF  THE  SHIPS  TO  CHINA  DURING  THE  OPIUM  DIFFICULTIES 

AT  CANTON,  AND  CONFINEMENT  OF  THE  FOREIGNERS  IN  THAT  CITY- 


BY   FITCH   W.    TAYLOR, 

to  t£e  Squadron. 

VOL.  II. 

SECOND  EDITION. 


NEW- HAVEN: 
PUBLISHED    BY    H.    MANSFIELD. 

NEW-YORK: 

D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  200  BROADWAY 
1842. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  by 

H.  MANSFIELD, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut. 


VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD 


SECTION  I. 

PENANG. 

Leaving  the  frigate,  in  a  boat,  while  the  ship  is  twenty  miles  distant  from 
the  shore.  Dine  with  the  Consular  Agent.  The  Mangusteen.  A  night- 
sail. 

OUR  ships  doubled  Achin  Head,  the  northwestern  end 
of  the  island  of  Sumatra,  after  a  few  days'  passage  from 
Soo-Soo,  without  incident,  and  arrived  off  Penang,  Prince 
of  Wales'  Island.  A  boat  was  sent  ashore,  to  convey 
the  compliments  of  the  Commodore  to  the  Governor,  and 
to  obtain  a  pilot  to  conduct  the  Columbia  through  the 
straits  of  Malacca  to  Singapore. 

Lieutenants  Palmer  and  Jarvis,  accompanied  by  my- 
self, landed  at  the  town,  after  a  pull  of  five  hours  in  one 
of  the  ship's  boats,  and  over  a  distance  of  twenty  miles. 
The  distance  was  greater  than  supposed  when  we  left  the 
ship ;  and  before  we  reached  the  shore,  the  highest  truck 
of  the  Columbia  had  sunken  in  the  distance,  and  was  en- 
tirely lost  to  the  eye.  The  broad  folds  of  the  American 
ensign  were  floating  in  front  of  the  Consulate  as  our  boat 
approached  the  town ;  and  Mr.  Reverly,  our  Consular 
Agent,  was  at  the  landing-place  to  meet  us,  to  conduct  us 
to  his  residence.  We  were  pleased  with  the  neatness 
presented  by  the  green-coated  area  through  which  we 
passed,  intersected  by  the  public  avenues,  gravelled,  and 
lined  on  either  side  by  sluice-ways,  for  conducting  the 
water  from  the  grounds ;  and  we  had  but  a  moment  con- 
templated the  air  of  neatness,  comfort,  and  beauty  which 


6  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  place  presented  to  our  first  view,  before  we  were 
wishing  that  it  might  be  compatible  with  the  duties  of  the 
squadron  to  delay  a  few  days  at  this  anchorage.  But 
the  scarcity  of  our  stores  requires  that  the  ships,  without 
further  delay,  should  proceed  to  Singapore,  where  the 
first  store-ship  for  our  supply  has  been  directed  to  meet 
us  from  the  United  States. 

It  was  five  o'clock  P.  M.  when  we  reached  Mr.  Rever- 
ly's.  A  bountiful  table,  with  the  air  of  domestic  comfort, 
was  awaiting  us ;  and  we  found  ourselves  agreeably 
entertained  as  we  sat  down  to  the  acceptable  repast,  with 
Mr.  R.'s  family. 

Among  the  fruits  presented  us  at  the  table,  was  the 
mangusteen,  (garcinia  mangostana,)  so  invariably  alluded 
to  by  all  visiters  to  the  Indies,  as  the  choicest  fruit  which 
the  earth  produces. 

"  And  this  is  the  mangusteen  of  which  we  have  heard 
so  much,  but  which  before  I  have  riot  seen,"  I  said  to  Mr. 
R.  as  the  fruit-dish,  containing  fine  specimens  of  the  fruit, 
was  passed  to  me.  "  And  some  days  ago,  when  a  gentle- 
man, on  whose  left  I  was  sitting,  helped  me  to  the  delicious 
mango,  he  added,  if  you  will  pause  a  moment  I  will  show 
you  how  to  eat  it.  1  doubt  not  you  will  be  equally  kind." 

M.  R.  placed  his  knife  upon  the  centre  of  the  globulous 
fruit,  and  passing  the  instrument  horizontally  around  it, 
raised  one  half  of  the  thick  rind  from  the  other,  leaving 
exposed  to  the  view  the  beautifully  white  pulp  of  the  fruit, 
resting  in  the  other  half  of  the  bowl,  in  beautiful  contrast 
with  its  brown  covering.  This  inner  globule  of  pulp  is 
divided  into  four  or  five  unequal  parts,  each  enveloping 
its  seed,  but  together  forming  a  complete  scalloped  whole. 
You  take  these  with  your  fork  easily  from  the  cup  or  the 
thick  rind  ;  and  the  mildly-acid  pulp  convinces  you,  that 
the  mangusteen  justly  holds,  for  its  richness  and  exquisite 
acido-dulcis  taste,  the  first  place  among  the  delicious  fruits 
of  the  East. 

Another  fruit  yet  more  peculiar  and  nearly  as  delicious 
as  the  mangusteen,  enriched  the  dessert.  It  had  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  dish  of  immense  oblong  strawberries  as 
they  occupy  the  fruit-dish,  but  you  wonder  that  they 
should  be  so  large.  As  you  take  one,  you  find  the  external 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

coat  bristled  with  elongated  and  flexible  fibres ;  and  cutting 
the  red  cuticle,  it  exposes  a  semi-translucent  pulp  resem- 
bling the  grape,  and  enclosing  its  single  oblong  seed.  This 
fruit  is  called  the  rambutan.  Several  were  crowded  upon 
my  plate,  together  with  the  mangusteen,  which  last,  with 
its  severed  rind,  leaving  the  beautiful  white  pulp  resting 
in  one  half  of  its  brown  cup,  may  remind  one  of  the  mag- 
nolia in  its  green  calix,  and  suggest  the  idea  that  it  holds 
its  pride  of  place  among  the  fruits  of  the  Indies,  as  the 
magnolia  grandiflora  blooms  the  reigning  queen  in  the 
kingdom  of  beautiful  flowers.  The  doctor  having  whis- 
pered me,  not  to  indulge  in  the  eating  of  fruits  when  he 
heard  of  my  intention  to  visit  the  shore,  I  refrained  with 
admirable  self-denial,  as  I  thought,  with  such  temptations 
before  me. 

Carriages  were  waiting  us  at  the  door,  through  the 
politeness  of  Mr.  R.,  as  we  arose  from  the  table,  to  give 
us  a  short  drive  through  the  town  and  into  the  country, 
along  the  beautiful  and  evergreen  paths,  which  charac- 
terize all  this  region  of  the  East,  and  rendered  additionally 
lovely  and  commodious  by  art,  which  is  ever  the  case 
wherever  the  English  have  planted  themselves,  whose 
hand  beautifies  whatever  it  touches. 

We  returned  to  Mr.  R.'s  to  tea ;  and  having  spent  the 
evening  and  been  favored  with  music,  which  carried  our 
associations  far  over  the  waters,  we  took  our  leave  be- 
tween eleven  and  twelve  o'clock,  with  the  expectation  of 
spending  the  remaining  part  of  the  night  upon  the  water. 
As  our  boat  put  to  sea  to  find  our  ship,  the  land-breeze 
had  just  commenced  to  blow  from  the  shore.  Our  sails 
were  set,  and  the  breeze  strengthened,  and  the  sea  in- 
creased. We  stood  on  our  night-path,  hoping  in  an  hour 
or  two  to  raise  the  ship  in  the  direction  we  supposed  her 
to  be  lying,  presuming  that  she  had  not  changed  her  posi- 
tion since  we  last  saw  her,  when  she  had  come  to  anchor, 
after  standing  to  the  northward  some  milejS  from  where 
we  had  left  her. 

"Shall  we  have  more  wind,  pilot?"  was  inquired  by 
the  officer,  as  the  sails  began  to  feel  the  pressure  of  the 
freshening  breeze,  so  as  to  drive  the  boat  with  consider- 
able velocity  over  the  sea. 

28 


8  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

"  A  little  more  breeze,"  answered  the  pilot,  who  was 
placed  upon  his  bag  of  traps,  and  now  turned  his  eye  as 
directed  towards  the  north,  where  a  cloud  seemed  to  be 
deepening  as  the  gleams  of  lightning  occasionally  shot 
horizontally  across  the  dark  field. 

"  Pilot,  is  there  a  prospect  of  more  sea  ?"  again  asked 
the  officer,  after  an  interval,  during  which  the  wind  con- 
tinued to  freshen  and  the  waves  to  dash  with  greater  force 
against  our  boat,  as  she  bent  to  the  impulse  of  the  heavy  air. 

"A  little  more  sea,"  replied  the  pilot  mechanically, 
"  but  not  more  than  the  boat  will  stand." 

"  In  the  bows  there — see  you  the  ship  yet  ?" 

It  was  impossible  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  naked  spars 
in  the  dark  distance,  I  well  knew,  although  the  watchful 
care  of  the  officer  strained  his  eye  to  find  the  first  indi- 
cation of  the  rising  masts  of  the  frigate,  of  which,  we 
knew  not  yet,  but  that  she  had  changed  her  position,  and 
as  we  hoped  had  stood  further  in  to  meet  us  and  to  lessen 
our  row. 

The  fair  breeze  however  took  us  onward — every  now 
and  then  some  one  of  the  look-outs  expressing  his  belief 
that  he  saw  the  spars  of  the  ship  in  the  dim  distance  be- 
yond us.  But  the  awakened  hope  generally  soon  faded, 
as  some  tracery  of  cloud  melted  away  and  left  the  field 
again  a  blank  and  dark  expanse. 

The  moon  had  emerged  from  a  clouded  heaven,  while 
we  had  been  standing  on  our  course  out  to  sea  in  our  light 
barque,  as  the  veil  that  had  concealed  moon  and  star 
threw  aside  its  folds,  and  the  silver  path  she  now  marked 
upon  the  water  south  of  us  held  my  own  gaze,  as  I  hoped 
the  ship,  if  yet  under  way,  might  be  discerned  as  she 
crossed  this  brilliant  wake  of  the  peerless  moon.  But  we 
stood  yet  on  our  night-path  without  gaining  a  view  of  the 
object  for  which  we  were  searching.  More  than  three 
hours  had  passed,  and  we  had  been  driving  before  the 
stiff  breeze  off  the  land. 

"  I  say — the  bows  there  !"  cried  the  officer  again,  for 
more  than  the  twentieth  time.  "  See  you  not  the  ship 
there,  a  point  on  the  weather  bow  ?  I  know  I  see  her," 
continued  the  positive  officer,  as  he  further  directed  the 
eyes  of  the  look-outs. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  9 

"  Ay — ay — sir !  I  see  her,"  replied  the  sailor  in  the 
bows  of  the  boat. 

"  Keep  your  eye  on  her  then,  sir,"  continued  the  offi- 
cer, as  he  satisfied  himself  that  he  was  not  again  de- 
ceived, while  he  traced  the  distant  poles  like  three  spindles, 
faintly  lining  themselves  on  the  horizon.  "  I  know  she  is 
there,  and  the  Adams  lies  beside  her — by  George,  they 
are  there,  both  of  them." 

The  Adams  must  have  come  up  during  the  day,  as  she 
was  not  in  sight  at  the  time  we  left  the  Columbia  in  the 
morning.  And  now  the  moon,  on  her  course,  was  already 
fast  settling,  and  another  half-hour  she  would  be  driving 
her  chariot  and  peacocks  beyond  the  rim  of  the  dark  sea. 
She  had  already,  for  more  than  an  hour  past,  assumed  the 
melancholy  of  the  farewell,  and  an  hour  before  we  finally 
reached  the  ship,  she  dipped  the  wheels  of  her  night-car 
in  the  furthest-seen  wave  beyond  the  Columbia. 

I  know  not  in  nature  a  more  melancholy  object  than 
the  setting  moon.  And  I  shall  never  forget  where  I  first 
saw  it.  It  was  from  a  stage-coach,  at  midnight,  in  a  state 
far  south,  on  my  return  from  a  tour  to  the  southernmost 
part  of  our  union.  It  was  at  a  point  where  the  coaches 
exchanged  their  passengers,  and  travellers  from  every 
point  replenished  the  vehicle  for  its  new  course.  The 
coach  had  been  crowded,  and  one  seat  alone  was  unoccu- 
pied as  I  took  it,  at  the  window ;  and  all  seemed  to  wait 
for  the  morning  light  to  develop  the  countenances  of  the 
party,  before  words  were  exchanged.  And  yet,  so  sad 
did  that  moon  look  that  night,  as  in  her  full  orb  she  set- 
tled behind  the  distant  forests,  I  ventured  to  direct  the 
eye  of  the  lady-passenger,  who  sat  in  front  of  me,  to  the 
mournful  object.  I  know  not  that  this  page  will  meet  that 
eye,  with  which  but  few  eyes  I  have  since  seen  in  this 
world  could  at  all  compare,  for  its  loveliness  of  expres- 
sion and  color,  as  it  opened  in  the  morning's  light ;  but 
should  it,  she  will  remember  the  incident,  and  the  rescue 
that  saved  others  besides  herself  from  the  perils  of  a 
grave  in  the  deep.  Reader,  watch  you  the  declining 
moon  at  the  hour  of  her  next  midnight-setting,  and  tell 
me  if  it  be  not  a  sorrowful  thing. 

The  second  officer  of  the  boat  had  now  taken  his  look, 


10  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

after  we  had  approached  still  nearer  to  the  ships,  and  re 
took  his  seat,  satisfied  that  we  were  nearing  her  on  the 
right  course,  as  he  added,  in  his  own  manner  :    "  No  mis- 
take— she's  there — yonder  is  her  light  now,  all  ahoy  ! 

It  had  gone  six  bells,  or  was  past  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  as  we  ascended  over  the  gangway  of  the  good 
ship,  and  reported  our  return  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  a 
worthy  young  gentleman  and  officer  of  great  merit,  now 
pacing  the  still  deck  in  the  mid-watch,  and  doubtless,  think- 
ing of  those  he  loved  in — Brooklyn. 

Our  ships  were  early  under  way  the  next  morning,  and 
we  are  now  standing  on  our  course  for  Singapore.  We 
have  learned  of  the  island  of  Singapore  as  a  spot  contain- 
ing beauty  of  scenery,  hospitality  among  its  residents,  and 
health  in  its  atmosphere. 


SECTION    II. 

SINGAPORE. 

The  Chinese  junk.  Beating  into  the  harbor.  American  Missionaries  and 
their  prospects.  Chinese  at  Singapore.  The  Moor-man's  daughter. 
Fruits  of  the  Malacca  Straits.  Pepper  plantations.  The  nutmeg.  Dine 
with  the  Scotch  Missionaries.  The  Rev.  Mr.  White,  English  chaplain, 
and  his  family.  An  evening  drive.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davenport,  Baptist 
Missionaries  of  Siam.  Surprising  a  Siamese  and  a  Chinese,  by  a  develop- 
ment of  their  phrenological  character.  Siamese  coins.  Siamese  dream- 
book.  *'  The  departure  of  the  Missionary  bride."  Missionaries  preach 
on  board  the  Columbia.  Services  and  communion  on  shore  at  the  mis- 
sion-room. Malay  language.  Translation  of  Po  Chute  Abdullah's  agree- 
ment with  Commodore  Read.  Also,  of  a  letter  from  a  Rajah  of  Muckie. 
Also,  of  Po  Kwala's  letter  to  Commodore  Read.  J.  Balistier,  Esq.  and 
family.  Society  of  Singapore.  Mrs.  Balistier's  collection  of  shells.  Sud- 
den death  of  Mrs.  Wood,  a  young  and  interesting  missionary.  Her  fune- 
ral. The  burial-place  of  Stevens,  a  college  class-mate  of  the  author. 
Episcopal  church  at  Singapore.  The  author  preaches  for  the  Rev.  Mr. 
White.  Courtesy  of  the  English  clergy  in  the  East.  Last  visits,  and 
drives,  and  adieus,  and  sunset  at  Singapore. 

WE  anchored  off  the  city  of  Singapore,  February  5th, 
1839,  among  the  little  fleet  of  vessels  now  lying  near  us. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  U 

Another  change  has  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  scene. 
The  Chinese  junk  has  come  down  to  meet  us  on  neutral 
ground — a  thing  not  to  be  forgotten  after  once  seen,  for 
its  combinations  of  as  many  dissonant  proportions  in  a  spe- 
cimen of  naval  architecture,  as  could  well  be  assembled 
in  a  monster  of  ugliness.  It  is  a  thing  to  be  drifted  and 
blown  before  the  wind  from  Canton  to  Singapore  during 
the  northeast  monsoons,  and  back  again,  from  a  terrestrial 
adventure  for  trade,  to  its  celestial  home,  when  the  wind, 
after  a  six  months'  blow,  changes.  These  ghastly  oddi- 
ties of  other  ages,  some  thirty  or  forty  in  number,  belong- 
ing to  these  celestials,  lie  some  mile  and  more  distant  from 
us,  nearer  in  shore  than  ourselves,  and  are  seen  gazing 
from  their  immense  eyes,  which  are  affixed  to  their  bows 
designating  the  head  otherwise  unknown  from  the  stern, 
each  being  equally  broad,  and  equally  high,  and  equally 
nondescript.  In  truth,  a  Chinese  junk  is  just  such  a  thing 
as  a  flat  would  be,  or  a  scow,  to  use  a  New  Englandism, 
were  it  to  be  increased  in  length  and  proportionably  in 
breadth  ;  and  then,  a  little  more  rounded  in  the  bottom,  be 
built  right  up  in  the  air  for  twenty  feet ;  and  then,  extend- 
ing from  stern  to  bows  on  one  side  and  bows  to  stern  on 
the  other,  long  horizontal  ribs,  to  strengthen  said  junk. 
Then,  paint  the  whole  white  outside,  with  a  red  eye  on 
either  bow  as  big  as  a  full  moon,  and  looking  as  much 
like  the  thing  intended  to  be  represented,  as  the  face  of 
the  bright  Dian  resembles  a  green  cheese.  This  eye  is 
placed  in  its  post,  never  to  be  closed,  on  the  principle,  "he 
have  no  eye,  how  can  see  1"  The  monster  is  a  ponderous 
and  heavy  thing  ;  spacious,  to  accommodate  innumerable 
uneriumerated  trifles  of  these  innumerable  traders  in  no- 
things, as  they  would  seem  to  the  observant  European  ; 
and  in  the  view  of  all  utility  too,  for  they  are  gewgaws 
of  distorted  shapes  and  fragile  mechanism,  such  as  are 
found  in  American  toy-shops  for  children,  and  which  seem 
to  be  the  very  things  which  keep  this  nation,  with  all  their 
greatest  excellencies  which  can  be  enumerated,  a  nation 
of  grown  children.  The  mind  of  man  is  measured  by  the 
objects  of  its  employments. 

The  appearance  of  the  town  of  Singapore  is  picturesque. 
The  hills  of  unequal  elevations,  and  crowned  with  respect- 

28* 


12  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

able  dwelling  houses,  rise  above  the  buildings  located  on 
the  plain  ;  and  the  relief  of  the  green  hill-side  mellows 
the  scene,  in  the  too  great  absence  of  forest  and  ornamental 
trees ;  while  the  air  of  neatness,  but  newness,  marks  the 
tout  ensemble  of  the  panoramic  view  from  the  ship. 

Our  frigate  beat  up  the  narrow  passage  among  the 
islands  to  the  harbor,  and  made  a  number  of  tacks  in  full 
view  of  the  town.  The  strong  northeaster  blew  in  our 
teeth  ;  and  the  ship  proved  herself  in  every  particular  a 
superb  vessel.  All  the  officers  were  delighted  with  her 
action  ;  and  certainly  she  played  her  part  like  a  thing  of 
life,  as  she  reached  forth  on  her  short  tacks,  buoyantly 
and  true,  never  missing  stays,  and  eating  to  the  windward 
like  a  clipper,  even  while  she  tacked.  The  Columbia  had 
not  before  been  so  faithfully  tested  as  now,  as  to  her  pro- 
perties and  powers  for  beating  to  the  windward.  All 
deemed  her,  in  this  particular,  the  truest  ship  in  which 
they  had  ever  sailed. 

AMERICAN    MISSIONARIES    AT    SINGAPORE. 

On  visiting  the  shore,  I  was  happy  to  find,  at  this  sta- 
tion, quite  a  number  of  the  American  missionaries  :  with 
them  my  sympathies  lie.  Besides  the  gentlemen  and  ladies 
regularly  stationed  here,  some  six  or  eight  have  taken  up 
their  temporary  residence,  with  their  brethren,  at  Singa- 
pore. This  is  owing  to  the  circumstance,  that  the  Dutch 
government  of  Java,  with  the  sanction,  it  is  supposed,  of 
the  mother  country,  who,  with  her  buckskin  breeches,  etc., 
is  ever  one  age  behind  the  century  of  the  times,  have  pro- 
hibited the  missionaries  from  locating  themselves  at  any 
other  place  in  the  Dutch  East  India  dominions,  save  on  the 
island  of  Borneo.  And  before  they  shall  repair  to  this  con- 
tinent of  an  island,  they  are  required  to  take  an  oath  that 
they  will  engage  in  nothing  tending  to  promote  rebellion 
against  this  grandfather  government.  Part  of  the  mis- 
sion, therefore,  are  now  at  Singapore,  waiting  for  an  op- 
portunity to  go  to  Borneo, — two  of  their  number  having 
visited  the  island  and  found,  according  to  their  impressions, 
an  opening  for  their  labors.  The  results  of  the  observa- 
tions of  these  gentlemen  are  about  being  made  known,  in 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  13 

a  communication  nearly  ready  to  be  sent  to  their  friends 
in  America. 

Singapore  presents  an  inviting  position  for  a  town, 
destined  ere  long  to  become  of  considerable  extent,  as  the 
result  of  its  fine  commercial  situation.  While  riding 
through  its  different  sections,  to  wait  on  the  several  families 
of  the  mission,  many  of  the  houses  already  constructed 
presented  themselves  on  a  scale  of  spaciousness,  and  con- 
siderable elegance  and  taste  in  the  adaptation  of  extensive 
verandahs  and  airy  rooms  to  meet  the  circumstances  of 
the  climate,  in  wooing  the  sea-breeze  from  the  ocean,  and 
to  court  the  land-zephyr  from  the  groves  of  the  nutmegs 
and  the  palms.  Many  of  the  sites  of  the  residences  are 
commanding,  and  the  houses  are  very  generally  surround- 
ed by  spacious  grounds. 

I  was  not  disappointed  in  finding  interest  in  the  charac- 
ters of  the  missionaries  and  their  wives.  Some  of  them 
are  young  married  couples ;  and  in  manners  and  person 
a  number  of  these  ladies  strike  you  as  most  deserving  of 
the  interest  they  awaken.  Why  should  a  young  woman, 
with  the  intelligence,  manners,  and  person  that  would 
grace  the  halls  of  the  noble  as  she  moved  among  the  elite 
of  a  court-levee,  leave  the  happiest  land  in  the  world,  and 
a  circle  of  relatives  and  friends  devoted  to  her,  to  seek  a 
place  among  foreigners,  and  devote  her  life  to  the  strange 
and  dark  people  of  eastern  climes,  who  care  not  for  the 
sympathies  that  are  poured  out  in  their  behalf;  and  who, 
in  a  thousand  instances,  not  only  are  not  grateful,  but  po- 
sitively unkind  in  the  manifestation  of  their  indifference  to 
those  who  are  lavishing  their  lives  in  furthering  their  best 
interests  mentally,  physically,  and  religiously  ?  What,  but 
a  love  which  lies  deeper  in  the  soul  than  a  worldly  man 
can  fathom,  and  which  the  opposers  of  missions  could  nev- 
er dream  of  ? — so  far  is  it  all  beyond  the  experience  of 
the  prejudiced  mind.  Did  I  not  think  the  action  practicable, 
in  its  hoped-for  results,  as  put  forth  by  such  self-sacrificing 
individuals,  forsaking  home  and  kindred,  and  devoting 
youth  and  maturer  age,  in  labors  difficult,  and  oftentimes 
sorrowful  and  disconsolate,  I  yet  would  look  with  an  eye 
that  should  float  in  warm  admiration  and  sympathy,  on  the 
generous  sacrifices  of  such  beautiful  spirits,  as  are  often 


14  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

found  among  the  missionary  band.  And  merits  not  he  the 
language  of  severity  who  can  speak  not  only  lightly  but 
slightingly  of  such  a  class  of  citizens,  who  make  the  world 
the  object  of  the  swelling  benevolence  of  their  hearts,  and 
even  coarsely  question  sometimes  the  motives  of  such  men 
and  women,  as  if  some  sinister  views  had  caused  them  to 
come  over  seas,  and  to  forsake  the  home  of  their  early  as- 
sociations for  a  life  among  a  heathen  people  ?  I  can  forgive 
and  forget  a  remark  that  is  addressed  with  unkindness 
against  myself.  And  I  may  forgive  but  I  cannot  forget 
the  language  of  disparagement,  used  in  dishonor  of  such 
men  and  such  women  as  those  of  whom  we  are  speaking, 
of  whom,  as  to  the  character  and  the  excellence  of  many 
of  them,  the  world  is  unworthy.  I  take  it  as  an  evidence, 
than  which  none  can  be  more  conclusive,  of  the  ill-breed- 
ing of  an  individual,  however  loud  and  frequent  may  be 
his  own  self-constituted  claims  to  the  chaste  and  pure  feel- 
ings of  the  true  gentleman,  when  I  hear  one  indulging  in 
sweeping  remarks  against  such  a  class  of  persons,  intelli- 
gent and  deserving,  and  better  bred  than  himself ;  and  in 
most  instances  better  born,  both  as  to  the  respectability 
of  their  connections  and  the  antiquity  of  their  families. 

I  dined  at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doty's,  and  met  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Polhman,  and  Mrs.  Thompson  and  Mrs.  Doty — having 
previously  called  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  North  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Youngblood,  and  afterwards  drove  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ball's,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood's.  Time  did  not  admit  of 
my  extending  my  calls  to  the  families  of  the  Scotch  mis- 
sion. But  in  the  evening,  it  being  the  first  Monday  of  the 
month,  I  gladly  consented  to  stay  on  shore  sufficiently  late 
to  attend  the  monthly  concert,  which  was  to  be  held  at 
the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Orr.  I  met,  as  the  consequence, 
all  the  missionaries  of  the  station,  and  others  who  are  tem- 
porarily residing  at  Singapore.  The  large  private  hall 
was  already  lined  by  this  company  of  missionaries,  as  I 
entered  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  not  forget  the  scene, 
as  I  contemplated  their  number,  and  carried  back  my 
thoughts  to  other  d  lys,  when  I  had  read  of  India  missions, 
and  now  mused  of  the  self-sacrifice  of  some  whom  I  had 
known,  and  others  whom  I  had  learned  to  love  for  their 
gentle  characters,  and  who  had  ended  their  lives  in  these 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  15 

eastern  lands.  It  was  not  among  my  young  fancies  that  I 
should  visit  these  regions,  when,  while  yet  a  boy,  I  poured 
my  tears  upon  the  pages  of  the  memoir  of  Harriet  New- 
ell, when  reading  her  plaintive  story,  or  while  I  turned 
the  leaves  that  gave  forth  the  breathings  of  the  beautiful 
and  classic  spirit  of  Martyn.  But,  to-night  it  was  my 
privilege  to  stand  among  this  "  chosen  band,"  and  to  sit 
and  commune  with  chosen  spirits,  and  to  kneel  and  blend 
my  own  feelings  with  theirs,  in  prayer  to  our  common 
Lord. 

I  had  thought  much  on  the  subject  of  missions  since 
reaching  the  Indian  seas.  My  heart  had  been  depressed 
as  I  contemplated  the  barriers,  which,  like  impassable  bul- 
warks, seemed  to  rise,  to  debar  the  advance  of  Christian 
principles  among  the  thousand  casts  of  the  people  of  the 
East.  If  they  were  an  intelligent  people — had  they  intel- 
lects capable  of  generalizing,  drawing  conclusions  from  just 
reasonings — could  two  in  ten  of  their  number  read  the  books 
in  their  own  language,  when  placed  in  their  hands — indeed, 
were  they  any  thing  but  a  race  who  seem  to  have  no  other 
idea  of  life  than  securing  pice  to  buy  curry  with,  or  to  hoard 
up  in  their  coffers  this  miserably  pitiful  coin,  then  there 
might  be  hopes  for  the  enlightening  of  the  mind  now  be- 
nighted on  the  grandest  subjects  which  pertain  to  the  best 
and  the  immortal  being  of  the  soul ;  and  more  immediate 
results  might  be  expected  from  the  efforts  of  the  devoted 
missionary.  In  the  present  state  of  the  heathen  nations, 
however,  there  seemed  to  the  mind,  as  we  first  entered 
these  regions,  no  gleam  of  well-grounded  and  happy  ex- 
pectation, streaming  in  the  horizon  which  skirts  the  vast 
expanse  of  the  eastern  continent  and  the  isles  of  these 
oceans. 

But  the  mind  wrestles,  when  oppressed  with  disappoint- 
ment, to  gain  relief  from  the  burden  ;  and  in  rny  own 
case,  while  revolving  the  circumstances  of  the  eastern  na- 
tions, as  we  have  been  passing  them,  and  observing  their 
customs,  opinions,  and  habits,  and  apparent  prospects  in 
connection  with  their  domestic,  political,  and  religious 
destinies,  with  the  missionary  efforts  among  them,  better 
and  most  consoling  views  have  presented  themselves  ;  and 
even  high-wrought  expectation  has  possessed  the  mind, 


16  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

when  our  views  have  extended  on  to  the  future  result  of 
the  present  action,  and  dwelled  upon  the  causes  tending  to 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  cause  of  missions,  in  the  en- 
circling of  the  globe  in  the  light  of  the  Christian  religion. 
But  it  is  not  this  generation  which  shall  be  thus  illumined. 
The  millions  yet  to  come,  who,  compared  with  the  present 
generation,  are  as  the  ocean  to  the  drop,  are  the  people 
who  are  to  reap  the  advantages  of  the  present  action  of 
these  devoted  men  and  their  associates,  throughout  the 
world.  Although  not  a  thousand  in  ten  thousand  of  the 
heathen  can  read  the  books  of  their  native  language  ;  and 
though  the  people  of  this  age  are  not  to  be  the  recipients 
of  the  greatest  benefit  of  these  labors,  yet  the  action  which 
is  being  put  forth  in  the  instruction  of  children,  and  the 
creating  of  Christian  books  in  the  different  languages  of 
the  world,  is  the  preparatory  step.  The  children  will  be 
ashamed  of  the  superstitions  of  their  ancestors,  when  they 
contemplate  them  in  contrast  with  the  Christian  religion. 
And  as  we  look  over  the  world,  (a  mere  ball  when  viewed 
in  its  proportions  of  a  diameter  of  but  8,000  miles,  but  a 
mighty  earth  when  regarded  as  the  residence-to-be  of  yet 
unborn  millions  of  coming  generations,)  we  find  a  band 
of  faithful  laborers  engaged  in  the  same  instructions  and 
with  the  same  purposes,  at  almost  every  point  of  our  globe. 
These  points  are  comparatively  near  each  other  ;  and  the 
influence  of  Christian  nations  is  everywhere  setting  in  from 
them,  while  the  books  are  everywhere  in  every  language 
prepared  to  spread  the  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Take,  for  illustration,  the  stations  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, not  far  even  in  miles  from  Hindoostan,  with  the  inter- 
vening stations  in  Persia,  and  all  along  the  coast,  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Bombay,  Ceylon,  Singapore,  Siam, 
Chinese  Empire,  Pacific  Isles,  with  the  Christian  shores  of 
Europe  and  America.  If  we  join  these  several  points,  we 
find  the  earth  covered  with  a  net-work  of  intersecting 
lines,  which,  from  one  to  its  neighboring  point  of  intersec- 
tion, is  but  a  short  distance  even  in  miles.  How,  then, 
shall  these  points,  like  radiants,  send  forth  their  direct  rays 
over  the  surface  of  the  globe  as  ages  advance  !  And  how 
shall  these  influences,  which  result  from  the  instruction  of 
these  thousands  of  children,  and  the  increasing  facilities 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  17 

of  communication  between  the  points  as  the  consequence 
of  the  extension  of  European  and  American  intercourse, 
spread  and  produce  convictions,  under  the  higher  influ- 
ence of  heaven,  of  the  "  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ !" 
It  is  a  bright  belt  that  already  spans  the  earth,  more  bril- 
liant to  the  Christian's  eye  than  the  band  of  Saturn  to  the 
vision  of  the  astronomer.  And  the  men  who  are  now 
laboring  in  the  field  of  missions,  at  these  different  points, 
are  the  workmen,  who  shall  not  be  ashamed  of  their  la- 
bors when  the  accounts  for  eternity  shall  be  made  up.  It  is 
their  early  work  which  is  to  tell  on  the  nations  of  the  world 
in  the  advance  of  the  sciences  and  improvements  which 
are  now  making  such  rapid  strides  in  the  world,  to  encir- 
cle the  earth  in  their  blessings.  And  though  they  see  not 
the  present  generation,  in  great  numbers,  embracing  the 
system  they  are  engaged  in  propagating,  and  are  thus  de- 
prived of  the  consolation  they  otherwise  would  have,  yet 
they  are  to  be  commended  the  more  for  their  unwearied 
action  in  these  preliminary  and  necessary  steps  of  instruc- 
tion to  spread  the  gospel  story,  and  for  the  universal  diffu- 
sion of  other  books  of  wisdom  and  interest,  leading  to  the 
one  result  of  begetting  in  the  preference  of  the  universal 
mind  of  the  world  an  acknowledgment  and  an  embracing 
of  the  religion  of  the  cross.  Others  shall  come  in  their 
steps,  and  bless  their  memory,  as  they  labor  and  see  the 
greater  ingathering  of  the  nations,  as  the  result  of  the 
preparations  which  the  pioneers  of  missions  shall  have 
made  ;  and  the  glorious  results  of  the  efforts  of  these  self- 
denying  and  laboring  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  live 
to  bless  the  earth,  when  they  themselves  shall  long  have 
been  gathered  to  the  unbenighted  abodes  of  the  happy 
dead. 


CHINESE    AT    SINGAPORE. 

During  the  week,  several  objects  of  interest  have  pre- 
sented themselves  to  my  observation.  Singapore  is  filled 
with  Chinese,  and  they  seem  to  form  the  largest  class  of 
its  inhabitants,  while  offering  a  new  object  for  the  study  of 
the  voyager  around  the  world.  Their  dress  is  a  pair  of 
large  trousers,  varying  in  colors — some  of  black  glazed 


18  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

cotton,  others  of  blue  nankeen,  and  still  others  of  white 
cambric.  To  this  is  added  a  frock  or  shirt,  generally  white, 
hanging  loosely,  some  with  sleeves,  and  others  with  no 
sleeves.  Their  shaven  skulls,  however,  attract  the  atten- 
tion as  being  most  particularly  characteristic  with  their  long 
quieu  hanging  down  in  its  braid,  and  composed  of  the 
gathered  hair  growing  in  a  circular  patch,  as  large  as  the 
hand  would  cover,  from  the  crown  of  the  head.  This 
braid  falls  nearly  to  the  heels  of  the  celestials,  with  their 
toes  encased  in  their  thick-soled  and  turn-up  toed  shoes. 
They  pass  with  a  quick  step ;  and  their  loose  sleeves  and 
trousers  flutter  in  the  gale  they  create  in  their  passage, 
with  nothing  upon  their  shaven  heads  but  the  tuft-knot  upon 
the  crown,  and  sometimes  the  long  braid  curled  in  a  plait 
around  it.  Their  heads  are  remarkably  round,  and  theii 
brows  smooth,  indicating  ideality,  but  little  powers  of  rea- 
soning or  locality.  Of  the  defect  in  this  last  particular 
we  have  daily  evidence,  as  our  boats,  in  passing  to  the 
shore,  drive  into  theirs,  as  if  these  celestials  thought  them- 
selves intangible  spirits,  and  manifest  no  kind  of  perception, 
apparently,  that  the  boats  are  coming  into  contact,  until  the 
rencounter  takes  place,  when  they  laugh  with  their  little 
cocked  eyes,  as  if  it  were  all  a  good  joke,  should  their 
boat  chance  to  survive  the  contusion,  and  save  their  yellow 
skins  from  a  desirable  ablution — a  thing  not  always  their 
good  fortune,  as  one  of  our  boats  has  already  emptied  one 
Chinaman's  crew  into  the  sea,  while  the  boat  dipped  her- 
self to  the  full,  as  it  gave  way  for  the  passage  of  the  heav- 
ier body  of  the  cutter. 

All  the  eastern  people  are  excessively  fond  of  ornaments. 
I  visited  the  house  of  a  Moor-man  to-day.  He  had  accom- 
panied me  during  the  morning  to  examine  some  objects  of 
curiosity ;  and  having  returned  to  his  residence  at  the  hour 
for  dinner,  he  took  me  to  an  upper  room,  where  were  his 
attendants,  and  his  young  daughter,  a  girl  of  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  quite  pretty  and  smiling,  and  covered 
with  ornaments.  A  red  silk  bodice  encircled  her  chest, 
leaving  her  arms  bare,  and  a  loose  robe  of  white  cambric 
was  carelessly  wrapped  around  her  body.  I  was  curious 
to  note  the  number  of  her  jewels,  as  she  came  to  me  at 
the  direction  of  her  father,  and  gave  me  her  little  hand, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  19 

darker  than  a  brunette's,  with  her  clear  nails  reddened  with 
a  stain.  Her  ears  were  fringed  with  rings,  twenty-one 
in  number,  covering  the  whole  crown  of  the  upper  edges 
with  golden  fillagree.  Two  rubies  gleamed,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  nose,  being  confined  to  their  place  by  a  screw, 
which  penetrated  through  each  nostril,  and  fastened  inside 
the  nostril  by  a  knob  affixed  to  the  screw.  Five  bracelets 
of  gold  decorated  her  wrists,  and  seven  rings  graced  her 
tapering  fingers.  Two  heavy  silver  bracelets  encircled 
her  ebony  ankles,  and  three  silver  thimbles  encased  as 
many  of  the  young  nymph's  toes.  She  was  the  old  man's 
only  child,  and  her  mother  had  died  three  months  be- 
fore. 

I  had  thrown  myself  on  the  mat  which  had  been  spread 
for  me,  on  a  couch,  while  one  of  the  slaves  of  the  Moor 
flourished  before  me  a  sandal-wood  fan,  whose  fringes, 
being  moistened,  gave  out  the  rich  odor  of  this  precious 
wood. 

In  a  few  moments,  curried  rice,  with  chicken,  was  placed 
before  me,  and  warm  milk  and  fruits,  while  the  dark-bearded 
Moor  ate  from  a  separate  dish  with  his  young  daughter,  on 
another  couch,  and  occasionally  manifested  his  affection 
for  his  child  by  patting  the  cheek  of  his  pretty  little  girl. 

While  walking  with  this  Moor,  we  met  the  Moorish 
priest,  robed  in  his  red  and  graceful  costume,  and  wrhite 
turban.  He  was  a  very  graceful  man  in  his  salam  and 
conversation.  I  told  him  that  I  should  visit  his  mosque, 
and  we  parted.  He  sent  to  the  frigate  a  present  of  oranges 
for  me  the  succeeding  day. 

FRUITS    OF    THE  STRAITS. 

The  fruits  of  the  straits  are  not  only  almost  innumer- 
able for  their  variety,  but  exquisite  for  their  richness  and 
delicious  flavor.  A  great  variety  is  produced  in  Singa- 
pore and  its  neighborhood,  but  a  still  larger  assemblage 
is  gathered  to  the  market  here,  from  the  surrounding 
islands  and  the  Malacca  coast.  I  have  in  my  possession 
thirty  or  forty  illustrations  of  the  different  fruits  of  the 
straits,  well  done  in  colors,  by  the  interesting  Chinese 
artist,  employed  by  Sir  Stamford  Raffles ;  and  most  of 

29 


20  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

these  fruits  I  have  seen  growing  on  the  grounds  about 
Singapore,  since  we  arrived  at  this  place. 

I  commence  the  specification  of  these  fruits  with  the 
mangusteen,  (garcinia  mangostana  of  Linna3us,)  as  being 
the  most  delicate  and  delicious  fruit  of  the  Indies,  and 
said  to  be,  with  the  durian,  peculiar  to  these  regions  of  the 
Malacca  peninsula.  I  first  tasted  it  at  Penang,  as  before 
described.  And  although  I  had  heard  so  much  of  this 
fruit  and  anticipated  something  exceedingly  rich,  I  found 
it  equal  to  its  reputation.  It  is  a  beautiful  thing  too  when 
opened — the  contrast  between  the  white  pulp  and  the 
roseate  and  scalloped  capsule  that  encloses  it.  The  fla- 
vor of  the  fruit  is  a  most  delicate  dulcis  acid,  without  the 
property  of  lusciousness.  It  is  a  drupe  with  a  rind  two 
eighths  of  an  inch  thick,  and  of  the  size  of  a  common  ap- 
ple, and  much  resembling  some  dark-red  species  of  that 
fruit — the  rind  being  hard  on  the  outside  and  soft  and 
succulent  within,  the  juicy  property  of  which  is  an  astrin- 
gent. This  external  envelope  encloses  the  scalloped  and 
beautifully  white  pulp  of  several  divisions,  occasionally 
tinged  with  the  royal  purple ;  and  the  rich  thing  melts  in 
the  mouth,  to  the  great  acceptance  of  the  gratified  taste. 
The  number  of  the  relievo  petals  in  the  fanciful  little  for- 
get-me-not on  the  end  of  the  fruit,  opposite  the  calix,  tells 
the  number  of  scallops  into  which  the  beautifully  white 
pulp  so  richly  encased  is  indented.  It  therefore  would 
not  be  difficult  to  guess  how  many  kernels  the  fruit  con- 
tains, which  make  up  the  scalloped  pulp,  could  one  gain 
a  slight  view  of  the  proper  end  of  the  fruit,  before  the 
rind  is  severed  in  half,  for  developing  the  secret.  I  have 
seen  them  vary  from  five  to  eight. 

The  durian  (durio  zibithinus)  is  another  fruit,  which 
no  one  will  forget,  after  once  tasting  or  smelling  it ;  and 
few,  at  first,  who  are  brought  to  the  perception  of  its  efflu- 
via as  it  gives  forth  its  strong  fragrance,  will  desire  to 
taste  it.  When  the  first,  and  I  believe  the  only  specimen 
of  this  species  of  fruit  was  introduced  into  the  ward-room 
of  the  frigate,  the  steward  was  directed  forthwith  to  bear 
it  hence,  and  never  to  bring  another.  It  was  then  deemed 
enough  to  smell  the  disgusting  thing  without  tasting  it. 
Not  deeming  myself  an  individual  of  very  strong  preju- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  21 

dices,  and  perhaps  more  curious  than  some  others,  I 
caused  my  dubash  to  bring  me  a  fine  specimen  of  this  fruit, 
since  our  arrival  here. 

The  natives  are  inordinately  fond  of  it.  and  the  Euro- 
pean soon  learns  to  love  it  among  the  most,  if  not  the 
most,  luxurious  fruit  of  the  East.  The  external  appear- 
ance of  the  fruit  is  like  the  bread-fruit,  though  rougher 
and  larger,  yet  smaller  than  the  jack-fruit ;  the  external 
rind  of  the  three  in  appearance  not  being  very  dissimilar. 

The  fruit  when  ripe  splits  at  the  lesser  end,  and  the  rind 
being  opened  quite  in  two,  exposes  the  white  and  luscious 
and  cream-like  pulp,  placed  in  different  pericarps  within 
the  rind,  and  covering  a  seed  of  the  size  of  a  large  ac^rn, 
and  of  the  color  of  a  light  chestnut.  The  soft  pulp 
might  easily  be  fancied  to  be  cream  itself,  mingled  with 
the  condensed  juice  of  a  roasted  onion,  only  supposing  it 
of  a  consistency  sufficient  to  adhere  to  the  oblong  seed 
which  lies  imbedded  in  the  pasty  substance.  The  taste, 
when  one  is  divested  of  the  idea  of  the  unpleasant  odor 
of  the  fruit,  strikes  you  as  being  rich,  and  you  think  you. 
could  and  most  probably  would  become  fond  of  it  were 
you  to  eat  it  but  a  few  times.  And  yet,  it  is  so  unlike  all 
that  you  have  associated  with  fruits,  that  you  deem  it 
some  way  a  mistake  of  nature,  and  that  it  must  be  some 
manufactured  thing,  or  at  least  should  be  classed  as  some- 
thing that  grew  beneath  the  ground  rather  than  above  it. 

The  properties  of  this  fruit  are  said  to  be  beneficial  in 
their  action  upon  the  system,  though  when  eaten  too 
abundantly  are  injuriously  heating.  They  are  a  tonic, 
and  otherwise  congenial  to  the  system.  This  fruit  de- 
mands a  higher  price  than  any  other  in  the  markets.  The 
tree  producing  the  durian  is  large  and  lofty.  The  leaves 
are  long  and  pointed,  though  small  in  comparison  with 
the  fruit.  The  flower  grows  in  clusters  from  the  stem  of 
the  tree  and  on  the  large  branches.  Its  petals  are  five  in 
number,  of  a  yellowish  white ;  and  the  stamina  are  ar- 
ranged in  five  branches,  and  each  branch  containing  about 
twelve  stamina,  and  each  stamen  pointed  with  four  an- 
thers. When  the  stamina  and  petals  fall,  the  empale- 
ment  resembles  a  fungus  ;  and  a  shape,  not  unlike  a  Scot's 
bonnet. 


22  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  bread-fruit,  (artocarpus  incisa,)  in  external  appear- 
ance is  somewhat  like  the  durian.  When  eaten,  how- 
ever, it  is  boiled,  or  roasted  in  the  fire.  The  trees  are 
seen  here  with  the  fruit  in  considerable  quantities.  The 
leaves  of  the  tree  are  deeply  indented  like  the  fig,  but  they 
are  larger. 

The  jack-fruit  (artocarpus  integrefolia,  L.)  is  an  im- 
mense thing,  as  it  is  sometimes  seen  pendent  from  the  very 
stem  of  the  tree,  and  growing  directly  out  of  the  largest 
branches,  and  sometimes  weighing  fifty  or  sixty  pounds. 
I  first  saw  this  fruit  in  the  botanical  garden  near  Rio  de 
Janeiro  ;  and  it  will  always  strike  one,  on  his  first  observ- 
ing the  jack-fruit,  as  a  thing  of  great  peculiarity  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  Of  this  fruit  I  have  never  eaten. 
When  it  ripens  a  cloth  is  thrown  over  it,  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  fruit  from  the  birds ;  and  yet  it  looks,  in 
its  green  and  rough  and  huge  exterior,  of  a  density  suffi- 
cient to  defend  itself  against  the  bills  of  the  most  daring 
of  the  feathery  thieves.  The  kernels  contained  within  the 
rough  external  coat  (which,  when  roasted,  are  said  to 
have  the  taste  of  chestnuts)  are  enclosed  in  a  fleshy  sub- 
stance, rich,  and  eventually  agreeable,  after  a  few  times 
eating  it,  but  at  first  deemed  too  strong  in  smell  and  flavor. 
The  yellow  wood  of  this  tree  is  much  used  in  various 
ways,  as  timber,  and  for  boards  ;  and  the  root  affords  a 
dye. 

The  rambutan  (nephelium  lappaceum,  L.)  is  a  beauti- 
ful fruit,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  as  resembling  the 
mammoth  arbutus  ;  and  you  suppose  them  at  first,  when 
at  a  little  distance  from  you,  a  delicious  dish  of  some  trop- 
ical strawberry.  But  you  find,  on  inquiring  into  the  "par- 
ticulars within"  the  outer  coat,  that  there  is  concealed 
beneath  the  red  and  hairy  covering  a  semi-transparent 
pulp,  of  a  pleasant  acid  taste,  enveloping  a  single  oval  and 
oblong  seed.  I  know  not  but  I  am  peculiar  in  my  memory 
of  the  beautiful  fruits  of  the  straits,  but  none  lingers  in  my 
recollection  so  sweetly,  in  its  clustered  beauties  of  the  fruit- 
dish,  as  the  bearded  and  rosy  rambutan. 

The  custard-apple,  (annona  squamosa,)  for  its  kindred 
taste,  should  have  been  placed  next  to  the  mangusteen. 
It  is  more  luscious — rather,  it  is  too  much  so  to  allow  of 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  23 

its  being  as  freely  eaten  as  the  mangusteen  or  most  other 
fruits.  Like  rich  cream  and  strawberries,  it  soon  satiates, 
while  it  is  yet  delicious.  The  fruit  is  an  irregular  cone, 
of  the  size  of  a  medium  quince,  and  more  rotund.  It  is 
made  up  of  lesser  cones,  with  each  its  apex  directed  to  a 
centre  within,  and  each  including  a  dark  seed.  The  pulp 
is  soft,  constituting  the  whole  of  the  fruit,  excepting  the 
seed  and  the  irregular  external  coat.  It  is  a  very  choice 
and  delicate  fruit.  Its  external  color  is  green.  The  in- 
ternal part  is  white.  It  is  soft  when  ripe,  and  a  slight 
pressure  of  the  hand  will  crack  it  open,  as  a  well-baked 
custard  would  fall  to  pieces  on  being  turned  from  its  cup. 

The  pomegranate  (punica  granatum)  is  a  sub-acid  fruit, 
delicious  to  a  thirsty  man,  and  acceptable  to  the  fastidious, 
and  gorgeous  in  its  associations  with  ancient  mention,  and 
the  rich  crimson  of  its  flowers.  The  fruit  would  much 
resemble,  externally,  the  capsule  of  the  poppy,  were  the 
poppy's  seed-vessel  as  large  as  the  pomegranate,  which 
is  the  size  of  a  quince.  When  the  fruit  is  broken  open  it 
presents  different  layers  of  seeds,  of  the  size  of  the  seeds 
of  the  sun-flower,  but  of  a  clear  and  juicy  substance,  en- 
casing the  harder  kernel.  These  seeds  are  sometimes  red, 
and  generally  tinged  with  coloring  matter  varying  from 
the  pearly  transparent  to  the  deepest  crimson.  We  found 
this  fruit  very  fine  at  Muscat,  and  it  exists  in  still  greater 
perfection  around  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  pine-apples  are  in  their  perfection  here.  They  are 
deliciously  sweet,  immense  in  their  size,  and  abundant  as 
is  the  miserable  pice,  of  the  currency  ;  four  of  which,  being 
equivalent  to  a  penny,  will  purchase  one  of  these  luxurious 
cones.  There  is  one  variety  more  beautiful  than  I  have 
elsewhere  seen.  A  hedge  of  these,  with  their  straw- 
colored  leaves,  I  saw  lining  an  extensive  circular  plot  in 
the  fruit-grounds  of  a  friend  whom  I  visited  but  yesterday. 
They  would  delight  the  eye,  and  yet  more  the  taste,  of 
some  of  my  friends  of  New- York,  could  they  eat  them  in 
the  perfection  in  which  they  are  served  here. 

The  mango  (mangifera  indica)  is  a  fruit,  in  its  external 
appearance,  resembling  a  small  melon,  but  is  a  drupe  of 
the  plum  kind,  being  three,  four,  and  five  inches  in  length, 
and  two  or  three  in  diameter.  At  Colombo  we  found  it 

29* 


24  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

in  its  perfection  ;  and  there  it  is  regarded  as  a  choice  va- 
riety among  the  different  ornaments  of  the  fruit-dish.  The 
external  color  of  the  fruit  is  green ;  the  internal  pulp  is  a 
rich  yellow,  and  adheres  to  the  large  seed  as  the  cling- 
peach  adheres  to  the  stone. 

The  papaya,  (carica  papaja,)  like  the  preceding  in  its 
external  appearance,  though  larger  and  yellow  when  ripe, 
is  like  a  smooth  melon,  not  striking  for  its  flavor,  though 
a  rich  and  healthy  fruit.  Its  seeds  are  more  peculiar,  fill- 
ing the  internal  long  and  scalloped  cavity.  They  are  of 
the  size  of  a  swollen  mustard  seed,  and  flavored  like  the 
water-cress.  The  pulp  is  a  reddish  and  rich  yellow. 

The  guava,  (psidium  pomiferurn.)  from  which  the  rich 
jelly  from  the  West  Indies  is  made,  is  not  very  unlike  a 
pear  in  its  external  appearance.  The  flavor,  both  in  taste 
and  to  the  smell,  some  are  greatly  pleased  with,  others 
dislike.  To  myself  it  is  too  strong  and  sickening,  to  be 
agreeable.  The  guava  jelly,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  deli- 
cious sweet  of  agreeable  flavors. 

The  blimbing  (averrhoa  carambola)  is  a  peculiar,  acid, 
pentagonal  fruit.  Its  seeds  are  flat.  It  reminds  you  of 
a  craw-fish,  although  nothing  like  it ;  only  it  looks  some- 
what strange,  with  its  pentagonal  ridges  and  green  goose- 
berry-like color  and  transparency,  to  be  hanging  upon  a 
tree  as  its  real  fruit.  I  remember  first  to  have  tasted  it 
in  a  garden  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  South  America,  and  it  was 
very  grateful,  in  its  abundance  of  sub-acid  juice,  to  the 
thirsty  lip. 

The  lanseh  is  very  like  bunches  of  gooseberries  in  re- 
semblance of  external  appearance,  hung  up  on  the  branches 
of  a  large  tree,  and  like  that  berry  serve  to  make  very 
good  tarts,  when  well  baked  and  properly  sweetened  ;  or 
rather,  when  properly  sweetened  and  well  baked. 

The  tamarind  tree  somewhat  resembles  the  thorny  lo- 
cust, and  the  fruit  hangs  pendent  like  the  pod  of  the  honey- 
locust,  and  appears  like  bean-pods  pendent  from  the  boughs. 
They  are  used  by  the  natives  among  other  acid  ingredients, 
in  making  their  curries. 

The  jambu  (eugenia  mallaccensis  et  aquea,  of  L.)  is 
a  beautiful  thing — resembling  the  pear  more  than  any  thing 
else,  save  its  own  self,  in  shape,  but  less  tapering  at  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  25 

stalk — with  a  smooth  and  very  fine  skin,  tinged  with  red, 
and  deeper  and  lighter  shades  of  the  pink  and  the  rose. 
The  handsome  tree  that  produces  it,  is  regular  and  conical 
in  its  shape,  and  its  foliage  of  deep-green  and  pointed 
leaves.  The  fruit  of  one  species  is  white  inside,  the  other 
tinged  with  pink.  Its  smell  and  taste  is  of  the  flavor  of 
roses.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  beauty  of  the  blossoms. 
The  numerous  stamina  are  long  and  of  a  pink  color,  ex- 
quisite and  bright. 

I  might  continue  the  list  and  description  of  the  fruits, 
so  numerous  and  varied,  which  are  found  in  the  Malacca 
countries,  and  to  be  purchased  in  the  markets  here,  and 
most  of  them  seen  growing  on  the  young  plantations  of  the 
residents  at  Singapore.  I  shall  however  only  enumerate 
the  names  of  those  so  familiar  to  the  eye  of  the  North 
American,  common  to  the  tropics,  and  found  in  the  markets 
from  the  West  Indies. 

The  plantains  are  in  their  perfection  here  ;  the  green 
variety  is  the  best — the  red,  which  we  have  not  before 
seen,  are  very  fine  and  most  peculiar.  The  natives  num- 
ber some  forty  or  fifty  varieties,  including  the  bananas, 
which  are  very  fine  flavored,  and  abundant  as  the  lazy 
native  population  need  desire  to  support  their  life  of  inac- 
tivity. 

The  best  oranges  of  the  market  are  brought  from 
China,  while  the  fruit  grows  in  any  abundance  here  when 
cultivated.  The  oranges  brought  here  in  the  Chinese 
junks  are  extremely  fine  in  their  flavor,  though  they  can 
but  little  compare  with  the  magnificent  fruit  of  the  same 
genus,  of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

I  might  sooner  have  mentioned  the  sour-sop,  a  very 
agreeable  fruit  when  perfectly  ripe.  I  like  to  associate 
the  time  and  the  occasion  of  rny  first  tasting  these  fruits, 
and  the  persons  with  whom  they  were  partaken,  with  the 
memory  and  mention  of  the  fruits  themselves.  The  sour- 
sop  is  rather  a  large,  green,  and  irregular  conical  fruit, 
with  a  rough  external  rind  and  a  soft  succulent  pulp.  The 
first  of  this  fruit  which  I  had  seen,  was  a  noble  specimen 
of  its  kind ;  and  when  I  had  taken  my  leave  of  the  family 
I  was  visiting,  I  found  the  said  specimen  of  the  sour-sop 
gently  reposing  on  a  little  worked  mat  in  my  palanquin, 


26  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

where  it  had  been  conveyed  after  I  had  mentioned  that  I 
had  not  before  met  with  the  fruit.  A  few  days  served  to 
ripen  it,  as  it  reposed  in  its  place  on  my  bureau  on  ship- 
board ;  and  the  sour-sop  itself  and  that  little  mat  on  which 
it  reposed,  shall  serve  often  to  recall  my  Scotch  friends 
and  their  politeness. 

Besides  the  abundance  and  great  variety  of  fruits  in 
the  straits  which  are  mostly  being  cultivated  on  the  plan- 
tations in  the  neighborhood  of  Singapore,  the  pepper, 
coffee,  nutmegs  and  cloves,  are  produced  in  great  perfec- 
tion and  considerable  quantities.  The  large  plantation  of 
Mr.  Princeps,  within  a  few  minutes'  ride  of  Singapore, 
includes  in  its  spacious  grounds  of  some  hundred  acres, 
all  these  varieties  of  productions  and  fruit-trees,  though 
most  of  them  are  of  but  few  years'  growth. 

The  pepper  plantations  in  the  neighborhood  of  Singa- 
pore are  cultivated  principally  by  the  Chinese.  The  vine 
is  of  the  creeper  kind,  raising  its  knotted  stem  to  twenty 
or  thirty  feet,  unpruned,  but  generally  kept  down  from 
ten  to  twelve  feet  in  height,  as  producing  more  fruit  thus 
than  when  suffered  to  reach  a  greater  elevation.  At  each 
joint  of  the  stem,  the  plant  puts  out  its  fibrous  tendrils, 
which  adhere  to  the  prop,  up  which  it  climbs.  Were  the 
plant  suffered  to  run  upon  the  ground,  these  tendrils,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  strawberry  vine,  would  shoot  into  the 
earth  ;  but  like  the  ivy,  in  such  a  case,  would  exhibit  no 
fruit.  The  prop  therefore  is  necessary  to  encourage  the 
plant  to  throw  out  its  bearing  shoots.  The  leaves  of  the 
plant  are  deep  green,  heart-shaped  and  pointed,  but  they 
have  not  the  pungent  taste  of  the  fruit.  The  stem  of  the 
pepper  vine  soon  becomes  woody,  and  in  a  few  years 
acquires  considerable  thickness  ;  some  of  the  stems  I  have 
seen  measuring  at  the  foot  of  the  stalk  three  or  four  inches 
in  circumference.  The  branches  are  generally  short, 
brittle,  and  readily  separate  at  their  union  with  the  stem. 
The  blossom  of  the  plant  is  a  small  white  flower,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  fruit,  as  found  in  commerce,  is  univer- 
sally known.  On  the  vine,  however,  it  hangs  in  long 
clusters  of  some  thirty  or  fifty  grains,  each  grain  adhering 
to  the  stalk,  resembling  some  kinds  of  the  smallest  wild 
grapes.  The  grain,  while  the  fruit  is  young  and  after  it 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  27 

has  reached  its  full  size,  is  green  in  its  color,  but  when 
ripe  and  in  its  perfection,  is  of  a  bright  red  color. 

This  plant  is  propagated  by  cuttings,  which  are  general- 
ly placed,  with  their  props  either  of  large  stakes  or  natural 
trees,  some  six  feet  apart,  the  vine  commencing  to  bear 
after  three  years,  and  continuing  to  do  so  for  several  more. 
As  soon  as  the  berries  begin  to  redden,  the  bunches  are 
gathered,  not  waiting  for  all  the  corns  to  have  changed, 
as  by  so  doing  the  riper  grains  would  fall  from  the  bunch. 
The  bunches  being  collected  in  baskets,  are  spread  upon 
mats  to  dry  in  the  sun.  The  changes  in  the  weather  have 
but  little  effect  upon  the  berries  to  injure  them,  which  soon, 
in  their  curing  state,  turn  black  and  oecome  shrivelled,  as 
they  are  seen  when  prepared  for  transportation  and  for 
consumption  throughout  the  world,  as  the  black  pepper  of 
commerce. 

The  white  pepper  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  a  differ- 
ent species  from  the  black,  and  esteemed  to  be  the  superior 
of  the  two,  and  a  higher  price  was  demanded  and  given 
for  it.  But  it  is  the  same  article  with  the  black  pepper, 
having  gone  through  a  different  operation  in  its  curing. 
It  is  more  mild  ;  and  the  mode  of  preparing  it  is  by  put- 
ting the  grains  in  baskets,  into  water — running  water 
being  preferred — the  excavations  for  the  purpose  being 
made  by  the  side  of  running  streams,  or  else  the  pepper  is 
put  into* stagnant  water.  This  process  causes  the  external 
coat  to  swell,  after  which,  the  grains  being  exposed  to  the 
sun,  the  exterior  pellicle,  by  rubbing  in  the  hands  and  win- 
nowing, is  separated  from  the  other  part.  Whether,  in 
fact,  this  is  an  improvement  to  this  article,  is  a  matter  of 
dispute.  The  white  pepper  is  to  be  regarded  as  superior 
in  one  particular  at  least.  It  is  composed  of  the  best 
grains  of  the  bunch,  as  none  but  the  full  and  well-ripened 
berries  will  make  the  white  pepper.  It  evidently  must 
lose  some  of  its  strength  from  exposure  in  the  water;  and 
though  the  white  pepper  has  the  advantage  of  the  quality 
of  the  grains,  the  tegument  of  which  it  has  been  deprived 
is  deemed  to  possess  a  flavor  more  aromatic  than  the  heart, 
though  more  pungent. 


28  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


THE  NUTMEG. 

I  conclude  this  brief  description  of  some  of  the  fruits  of 
the  straits,  with  the  beautiful  nutmeg,  as  it  is  seen  growing 
in  its  place. 

The  tree  that  produces  this  aromatic  and  highly-valued 
article  among  the  spices,  is  an  evergreen  of  great  beauty, 
conical  in  its  shape,  and  reaching  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height,  with  its  branches  thickly  decorated  with 
their  polished  deep-green  leaves,  like  the  foliage  of  the 
orange,  rising  quite  from  the  ground  to  the  top.  The  fruit, 
with  its  yellow  external  tegument,  resembling  a  middling- 
sized  pear,  with  a  smooth  skin,  lies  thick  among  this  green 
foliage.  When  the  fruit  is  ripe,  the  thick  rind  cracks  open, 
so  as  to  exhibit  the  beautiful  white  of  the  internal  part  of 
the  rind  in  contrast  with  the  deep-red  mace  which  over- 
lays the  black  shell  containing  the  kernel  or  the  nutmeg, 
as  we  have  it  in  commerce.  It  is  an  exquisite  thing  as 
seen  in  this  state.  The  shells  which  contain  the  kernels, 
or  the  nutmegs  as  we  generally  get  them  from  the  shops, 
are  almost  a  jet  polished  black.  Over  this  is  woven  in  its 
interlacing  threads,  the  mace  of  commerce.  This  dark  of 
the  shell  and  red  of  the  mace  in  contrast  with  the  beautiful 
white  edges  of  the  split  rind  and  the  yellow  of  the  external 
tegument,  form  together  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of 
nature's  colorings  and  contrasts  I  have  ever  beheld,  and 
is  worthy  of  all  the  young  fancies  we  have  ever  drawn  of 
the  beauty  of  the  spice-tree.  We  thus  see  that  the  nutmeg 
and  the  rnace  of  commerce  are  the  product  of  the  same 
tree.  The  leaf  and  the  blossom  are  strongly  aromatic, 
like  the  fruit.  There  are  numerous  plantations  of  this 
spice  in  the  neighborhood  of  Singapore.  But  as  yet  they 
are  young,  and  extending,  the  soil  being  deemed  particu- 
larly appropriate  for  the  growth  of  this  valuable  article. 
The  government  nutmeg-grove  is  perhaps  the  most  ex- 
tensive, or  rather,  at  the  present  moment,  is  containing 
the  largest  number  of  well-grown  trees  ;  while  other  plan- 
tations of  greater  extent  in  the  number  of  their  young 
plants,  have  also  a  considerable  number  of  bearing  trees. 
While  walking  through  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Princeps,  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  29 

servants,  then  gathering  the  nutmegs  from  the  trees,  (a 
daily  work  the  year  round,)  informed  us  that  they  general- 
ly secured  400  ripe  ones  in  a  day.  The  produce  of  these 
plantations  eventually  will  be  very  considerable,  most  of 
the  gentlemen  of  Singapore  having  encouraged  the  growth 
of  the  nutmeg  tree  upon  their  country  premises  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  this  beautifully  situated  town. 

CALLS    ON    VARIOUS    PERSONS. 

Since  the  arrival  of  our  ships  at  Singapore,  I  have 
several  times  called  upon  the  missionary  families,  now  res- 
ident at  this  place.  On  the  13th  dined  with  Rev.  Mr.  A. 
Stronoch  of  the  Scotch  mission.  Scotland  and  the  Scots 
have  always  possessed  an  interest  in  my  associations. 
The  Scots  however  cease  to  please  when  they  begin  to 
forget  their  own  highland  and  lowland  associations,  and 
manifest  their  preferences  in  commending  the  English,  to 
the  neglect  of  their  own  more  peculiar  characteristics. 
Were  I  a  Scotchman  I  should  never  think  of  looking  to 
England  for  a  national  or  individual  fame,  on  which  to 
value  myself,  when  a  history  so  rich  in  story  and  a  ro- 
mance so  storied  in  history  were  glowing  before  me  of 
my  own  native  Scotland. 

There  are  two  brothers  here,  who  are  attached  to  the 
London  Missionary  Society.  They  appear  to  be  very 
worthy  men,  and  their  wives  greatly  esteemed.  The 
ladies  have  just  enough  of  the  Scotch  in  their  accent  to 
render  their  conversation  of  deeper  interest  to  me  than  it 
would  have  been  without  it.  It  reminds  one  that  he  is 
conversing  with  one  of  Scotia's  daughters,  from  that  land 
which  we  have  learned  to  love  for  its  intellect,  and  worth, 
and  story,  and  song. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  White,  the  English  chaplain  at  Singa- 
pore, is  a  gentleman  of  great  mildness  of  character,  and 
has  the  reputation  of  some  cleverness  in  the  natural 
sciences.  He  seems  to  be  fond  of  them,  at  least.  He 
is  a  Cambridge  scholar,  and  all  Cambridge  students  seem 
particularly  fond  of  their  alma  mater.  Indeed  all  the 
English  chaplains  whom  I  have  met  in  the  East,  do  credit 
to  the  service  to  which  they  are  attached,  so  far  as  their 


30  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

general  intelligence  is  concerned,  and  in  most  instances  have 
exhibited  the  practical  effects  of  the  principles  of  the  reli- 
gion which  they  teach,  in  their  Christian  action  and  pious 
lives.  The  chaplains  in  the  Indian  service  are  allowed  to  re- 
turn home,  at  their  pleasure,  after  having  spent  a  certain 
number  of  years,  and  retire  upon  a  pension  of  about  two 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  during  their  lives,  after  leaving 
the  service.  Their  salary  while  in  the  Indian  service, in  most 
instances,  is  five  thousand  dollars,  and  upwards,  per  an- 
num. The  residence  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  W.  is  a 
commanding  one — the  whole  sheet  of  beautiful  water, 
expanding  itself  in  full  view  from  the  verandah,  dotted 
over  by  the  huge  and  nondescript  Chinese  junks — the 
Cochin-China  yellow-sided  war-ships,  bearing  the  mer- 
chandise of  the  king — the  yet  better-looking  ships  of  the 
king  of  Siam — the  finer  specimens  of  naval  architecture, 
as  seen  in  the  French,  English,  and  American  merchant- 
men— and  still  further  out  and  beyond  them  all,  our  own 
two  gallant  cruisers,  in  the  beauty  of  their  squared  yards 
and  tall  spars,  and  graceful  and  perfect  hamper,  symme- 
try, and  order,  filling  up  the  picture,  and  presenting  to 
the  view  of  the  gazer  a  charming  nautical  scene. 

All  shipping  lie  moored  by  their  anchors  in  these  east- 
ern ports — the  surf  and  the  exposure  of  the  winds  being 
too  great  to  admit  of  the  construction  and  use  of  docks. 
And  beneath  you,  as  you  look  from  this  residence,  lie  the 
crowded  bazaars  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  Moor,  and  the 
Malay ;  while  on  the  more  distant  plain  and  along  the 
northern  beach  extend  the  better  houses  of  the  English 
and  American  residents.  The  hill-side,  up  which  you 
wind  to  reach  the  prospect  which  I  have  described,  is 
covered  with  the  luxuriant  and  beautiful  nutmeg  grove, 
interspersed  with  the  aracca  palm  and  the  banana,  and 
other  fruits  of  this  tropical  clime,  with  the  shrubs  and 
gaudy  blossoms  which  give  forth  their  bright  colors  but 
faint  perfume  to  the  moist  and  balmy  air  of  the  morning 
and  evening,  but  intensely  heated  atmosphere  of  the  noon- 
day hour. 

My  visits  to  this  amiable  family  have  always  been 
agreeable.  Mrs.  W.  executes  with  taste  on  the  piano- 
forte ;  and  at  different  times  has  gratified  me  with  a  num- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  31 

ber  of  old  specimens  of  Handel's  composition.  I  am  sure 
that  most  of  the  modern  belles  would  have  been  surprised 
by  the  absence  of  most  of  the  fashionable  music  of  the 
day ;  and  indeed  I  was  almost  ashamed  of  the  tendency 
of  my  own  inquiries,  from  habit,  for  the  love  ditties  and 
"  mamma's  favorites"  of  the  modern  school.  "  Bid  me 
discourse"  carried  me  far  over  the  seas,  and  recalled  in 
gentle  memories  to  my  mind  somebody  who  has  sung  it 
for  me  at  home,  with  effect  and  with  an  indescribable  and 
delightful  thrill,  which  comes  over  the  spirit  when  the 
soul  of  song  awakes.  And  "  The  Pilot" — I  remember 
how  the  same  somebody  told  me  that  Miss  G.,  who  sings 
so  sweetly,  taught  her  to  sing  it.  I  love  a  cricket-singer, 
one  who,  in  the  simplicity  of  a  young  heart,  seated  on  an 
ottoman  at  your  side,  on  a  winter's  evening,  when  all  is 
cheer  and  comfortable  and  still,  and  the  coal-fire  is  burn- 
ing, and  a  snow-storm  without  is  raging,  will  look  you 
kindly  in  the  face  ;  and  with  an  eye  floating  in  affection, 
sentiment,  and  artless  nature,  will  give  you  the  sweet 
song  you  desire — or  the  plaintive  melody — and,  perhaps, 
once  and  ever,  as  if  some  wild  freak  of  witchery,  unusual 
but  natural  when  occurring,  had  come  over  her  spirit,  will 
sport  with  you  in  a  laughing  recitative.  There  is  a  charm 
of  melody  in  the  note  of  such,  whose  eyes  melt  in  sorrow 
or  dilate  in  joyousness,  as  the  sentiment  glows  in  the  mel- 
ancholy, or  expresses  emotions  of  the  peaceful  and  the 
happy.  And  such  is  the  note  of  somebody  ;  and  no  vesper 
strain  from  deepest  vault  of  Abbey,  nor  swell  of  chorus 
from  fullest  orchestra,  nor  softest  music  of  the  full  band 
on  the  lake,  at  moonlight,  ever  threw  such  a  spell  upon 
the  soul  as  the  artless  song  of  that  dearly  remembered 
somebody.  You  would  not  wish  to  conceal  your  tears 
when  she  sang  for  you  "The  Mistletoe  Bough."  And 
you  would  have  thought  that  some  simple  and  sweet  rosy- 
cheeked  milk-maid,  who,  in  her  fresh  health  and  purity, 
sports  free  as  the  lark  in  the  morning  country-air,  was  at 
your  side,  as  she  had  unaccountably  become  sad  and  pale 
as  the  lily  that  had  drooped  before  some  sudden  blast, 
while  she  sang  "Kathleen  O'More."  And  then  you  would 
be  aroused  and  surprised  that  so  late  an  hour  had  come 
when  she  repeated  the  Scotch  ditty, 

30 


32  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  O  they're  a'  noddin,  nid  nid  noddin, 
O  they're  a'  noddin  at  our  house  at  hame." 

And  I  remember  how,  and  when,  and  where  she  has  sung 
for  me  "  The  Pilot."  And  Mrs.  W.  repeated  it,  this  even- 
ing, with  feeling.  And  the  words  are  worth  more  than 
the  trouble  of  transcribing  them  here,  but  space  forbids. 

I  was  grateful  to  Mrs.  VV.  for  the  music  she  gave  me, 
as  indeed  I  am  for  all  real  harmonies  in  these  eastern  re- 
gions, where  music  is  almost  unknown,  or  at  least  almost 
altogether  neglected. 

The  evening  ride,  near  sunset,  is  an  agreeable  pastime 
for  an  hour,  and  very  generally  indulged  in  by  the  resi- 
dents of  Singapore.  In  company  with  Mrs.  White  and 
my  little  pet,  Mrs.  W.'s  "  only  and  beautiful,"  I  enjoyed 
the  evening  air  at  an  hour  so  calm  and  balmy,  when  the 
wing  of  the  zephyr  is  beginning  to  feel  the  pressure  of 
the  falling  and  sweet-scented  dew.  The  Singapore  rose, 
decorating  the  side-ways  as  you  ride  from  town,  is  an 
abundant  and  beautiful  shrub;  and  the  rosa  vincula  every- 
where through  the  streets  meets  the  eye  as  a  graceful 
and  luxurious  thing.  Little  B.,  my  little  pet  alluded  to, 
(God  bless  her,)  was  bare-footed ;  so  comfortable  did  her 
little  white  feet  and  naked  arms  seem  in  this  warm  clime, 
encased  in  loose  cambric  ruffles.  Innocence  and  flowers; 
how  just  and  beautiful  is  the  association ! 

Among  the  missionary  families  now  resident  at  Singa- 
pore is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davenport  and  lady,  who  are  tempo- 
rarily here  from  Siam,  being  attached  to  the  Baptist  mis- 
sion at  Bankok.  Mr.  D.  is  now  attending  to  the  casting 
of  a  fount  of  Siamese  type,  and  expects  in  a  month  or  two 
again  to  return  with  Mrs.  D.  to  Bankok.  They  are  from 
Virginia;  and  Mrs.  D.  is  a  sprightly  young  lady,  who  left 
her  native  land  with  her  husband  at  the  age  of  seventeen; 
and  I  was  happy  in  spending  the  day  that  commemorates 
her  twentieth  birthday  (fifth  of  March,  1839,)  at  their 
residence,  since  our  arrival  at  Singapore.  She  has  accom- 
plished a  knowledge  of  the  Siamese  with  great  facility, 
and  I  have  in  my  possession  some  manuscript  translations 
by  herself  which  she  was  kind  enough  to  present  to  me. 
I  shall  remember,  with  most  cordial  feelings  of  friendship 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  33 

and  interest,  their  generous  efforts  to  make  my  stay  at 
Singapore  pleasant  to  myself,  and  my  memories  of  it  al- 
together of  the  agreeable  kind.  Their  hospitality  was 
extended  with  a  warmth  that  declared  its  sincerity ;  and  I 
am  sure  I  shall  not  forget  the  social  hour,  the  brief  but 
ever  agreeable  interview,  and  the  family  worship,  as  we 
have  knelt  together  at  the  family  altar  at  the  hour  of  even- 
ing parting.  Indeed,  this  act  of  family  worship  has  been 
a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  me  in  my  intercourse  with 
numbers  of  the  agreeable  families  at  whose  houses  it  was 
my  pleasure  to  visit.  At  the  Rev.  Mr.  White's,  the  Holy 
Book  and  the  Common  Prayer  reminded  me  that  I  was 
worshipping  with  friends  of  a  common  creed  as  well  as 
of  kindred  feelings.  The  Bible  and  the  Hymn-book  at 
another  dwelling  would  tell  me  that  I  was  with  Presby- 
terian brethren,  but  Christian  and  devoted  hearts.  Again, 
the  Dutch  Reformed,  and  the  Congregationalist,  and  Inde- 
pendents, and  Baptists,  with  bosoms  swelling  with  kindred 
sympathies  and  kindred  views,  and  kindred  expectations 
beyond  the  life  of  earth.  The  very  consciousness  that 
most  of  these  were  American  Christians  was  quite  enough 
to  warm  the  heart  in  Christian  love,  and  cause  one  in  the 
social  intercourse  to  forget,  or  to  waive  all  distinctive 
principles  in  church  discipline  and  orders,  where  intelli- 
gence and  devotion  characterized  the  mind  and  swelled 
the  heart. 

In  Mr.  D.'s  family  are  two  or  three  Siamese.  The 
subject  of  phrenology  having  been  made  a  topic  of  con- 
versation, these  Siamese,  together  with  a  Chinaman,  were 
desirous  that  the  doctor,  as  they  styled  myself,  should  tell 
them  their  characters.  Mrs.  D.  was  desirous  of  gratifying 
them.  I  make  no  pretensions  to  a  practical  knowledge 
of  this  science,  nor  am  I  any  way  strenuous  as  to  the 
principles  it  is  said  by  its  advocates  to  develop  and  to 
confirm.  Whether  true  in  its  deductions  or  the  contrary, 
it  is  but  the  application  of  the  science  of  the  mind,  or 
mental  philosophy,  to  certain  physical  localities  of  the 
cranium.  I  was  willing  to  be  amused,  and  the  Siamese 
teacher  presented  himself  with  considerable  gravity,  and 
departed  with  a  full  persuasion  that  I  possessed  greater 
knowledge  of  men  than  the  Siamese  priests. 


34  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Another  less  intelligent  but  apparently  good-natured 
Siamese  retained  his  gravity  and  composure  for  a  short 
time,  but,  finally,  put  both  hands  over  his  face  in  astonish- 
ment, and  rushed  from  the  room  exclaiming,  true — true — 
all  true.  He  again  entered,  after  a  while,  and  begged 
that  I  would  tell  him  how  long  before  he  would  have  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  EngLsh  language. 

A  Chinaman,  in  some  way  connected  with  the  mission, 
also  presented  himself,  being  equally  curious  with  the 
Siamese,  and  desired  me  "to  speak  about  his  head."  I 
knew  nothing  of  this  celestial,  and  the  examination  was 
entirely  unexpected;  and  I  felt  no  disposition  to  trifle  with 
either  of  these  persons.  This  gentleman  of  the  long  braid, 
however,  seeming  to  linger  in  profound  expectation,  as  if 
something  most  certainly  would  be  developed,  I  was  un- 
willing to  disappoint  him  altogether.  I  assured  him  that 
I  could  not  pretend  to  describe  his  character,  but  without 
knowing  whether  it  were  true  or  not,  I  should  think  that 
he  was  a  believer  in  ghosts.  The  celestial  raised  his  arms 
akimbo,  turned  his  oblique  eyes  upwards,  and  exclaimed, 
"Yes,  I  believe  in  them,  and  /  fear  them  much."  His 
unanticipated  astonishment  excited  a  slight  smile  at  his 
expense,  and  he  left  the  room,  perhaps  to  burn  Josh-sticks, 
certainly  to  procure  me  a  present  of  oranges,  as  I  had  an 
occasion  soon  afterwards  to  know,  as  he  brought  them  to 
Mr.  D.'s  for  me. 

Mrs.  Davenport  has  upon  her  tables  numbers  of  Siam- 
ese curiosities — consisting  of  their  books,  coins,  and  dei- 
ties. The  books  are  things  strikingly  curious  to  the  eye 
of  the  American — being  formed  of  a  continuous  sheet  of 
paper,  gathered  into  folds  like  the  plaits  of  a  ruffle,  and 
yards  in  length  when  unfolded.  They  vary  in  size  from 
three  or  four  inches  in  length  and  two  broad,  to  a  foot  in 
length  and  four  inches  broad ;  when  folded,  each  piece, 
generally  three  or  four  inches  thick,  constituting  a  volume. 
The  paper  is  generally  black,  and  the  letters  traced  with 
white  ink.  "As  black  as  ink,  and  as  white  as  a  sheet  of 
paper,"  therefore,  are  expressions  which  might  need  a  little 
explanation  to  a  Siamese. 

The  Siamese  silver  and  gold  coins  are  small  pieces  of 
bullion,  flattened  on  each  end,  so  as  to  compress  the  whole 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  35 

into  an  irregular  globulous  form,  on  which  the  die  leaves 
two  small  impressions.  In  case  of  a  scarcity  of  small  shot 
and  a  plenty  of  coin,  during  a  war,  the  Siamese  would 
have  in  their  silver  and  gold  currency  a  very  good  substi- 
tute for  bullets  and  buckshot.  This  coin  is  a  very  curious 
thing  in  contrast  with  our  ideas  of  the  flat  surface  of  the 
American  and  European  money. 

The  Siamese,  in  their  religion,  are  Budhists — credu- 
lous and  superstitious — believers  in  transmigration  of 
souls,  in  dreams,  and  omens  derived  from  a  thousand 
sources.  Their  sacred  books  are  said  to  be  considerably 
numerous. 

I  give  here  a  few  extracts  from  two  works,  which  Mrs. 
Davenport  has  translated  for  me,  and  presented  in  a  man- 
uscript, most  beautifully  written  in  her  own  hand.  One 
of  them  is  called 

THE    SIAMESE    DREAM    BOOK. 

The  writer  introduces  the  subject  of  the  work  thus : 

"  In  former  times  a  great  prophet  and  magician,  who 
had  much  wisdom,  and  could  foretell  all  future  events, gave 
the  following  interpretation  of  signs  and  dreams.  Whoso- 
ever sees  signs  and  visions,  if  he  wishes  to  know  whether 
they  forebode  good  or  evil,  whether  happiness  or  misery, 
if  he  dream  of  any  animals,  insects,  birds,  or  fishes,  and 
wishes  to  know  the  interpretation,  let  him  examine  this 
book." 

Of  these  signs  and  dreams  I  make  extracts  promiscu- 
ously from  the  manuscript : 

"  If  a  person  be  alone,  and  an  insect  or  reptile  fall  before 
the  face,  but  the  individual  see  it  only  without  touching  it, 
it  denotes  that  some  heavenly  being  will  bestow  great 
blessings  on  him.  If  it  fall  to  the  right  side,  it  denotes 
that  all  his  friends,  wherever  scattered  abroad,  shall  again 
meet  him  in  peace.  If  it  fall  behind  the  person,  it  denotes 
that  he  shall  be  slandered,  and  maliciously  talked  of  by  his 
friends  and  acquaintances.  If,  in  falling,  it  strike  the  face, 
it  denotes  that  the  individual  will  soon  be  married.  If  it 
strike  the  right  arm,  it  denotes  that  the  individual's  wishes, 
whatever  they  are,  shall  be  accomplished.  If  it  strike  the 

30* 


36  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

left  hand,  it  denotes  that  the  individual  will  lose  his  friends 
by  death.  If  it  strike  the  foot,  it  denotes  that  whatever 
trouble  the  individual  may  have  had,  all  shall  vanish,  and 
he  shall  reach  the  summit  of  happiness.  If.  after  touching 
the  foot,  it  should  crawl  upwards  to  the  head,  it  denotes 
that  the  individual  shall  be  raised  to  high  office  by  the 
rulers  of  his  country.  If  it  crawl  to  the  right  side,  it  de- 
notes that  the  person  shall  hear  bad  tidings  of  some  absent 
friend.  If  the  insect  or  reptile  fall  without  touching  the 
body,  and  immediately  flee  towards  the  northeast,  it  de- 
notes deep  but  not  lasting  trouble  ;  if  towards  the  north- 
west, it  denotes  that  the  person  shall  receive  numerous 
and  valuable  presents  ;  if  towards  the  southeast,  it  denotes 
that  he  shall  receive  great  riches,  and  afterwards  go  to  a 
distant  land  ;  or  that  he  shall  go  to  a  distant  land,  and  there 
amass  great  wealth. 

"  If  an  animal,  insect,  bird,  or  reptile  cross  the  path  of 
any  one  as  he  walks  along,  the  animal  coming  from  the 
right,  let  him  not  proceed — some  calamity  will  surely  hap- 
pen to  him  in  the  way.  If  the  animal  come  from  the  left, 
let  him  proceed — good  fortune  shall  surely  happen  to  him. 
If  the  animal  proceed  before  him  in  the  same  road  in  which 
he  intends  to  travel,  it  denotes  good  fortune  to  him. 

"  If  the  left  ear  tingle  repeatedly,  it  denotes  that  the  in- 
dividual shall  receive  evil  tidings  from  abroad.  If  the  right 
ear  tingle,  it  denotes  that  he  shall  receive  speedy  and  pleas- 
ing intelligence  from  absent  friends. 

'*  If  the  upper  lip  tremble  repeatedly,  it  denotes  that  the 
individual  shall  receive  presents  of  the  most  rare  and  deli- 
cious dishes.  If  the  lower  lip  tremble,  it  denotes  severe 
illness. 

"  I  now  beg  to  interpret  the  signs  of  the  night.  If  at 
midnight  an  individual  hears  the  noises  of  animals  in  the 
house  where  he  resides,  1  will  show  him  whether  they  in- 
dicate good  or  evil.  If  any  insect  cry  *  click,  click,  click/ 
lie  will  possess  real  treasures  while  he  abides  there.  If  it 
cry  '  kek,  kek,'  it  is  an  evil  omen  both  to  that  and  the  neigh- 
boring houses.  If  it  cry  *  chit,  chit,'  it  denotes  that  he  shall 
always  feed  upon  the  most  sumptuous  provisions.  If  it 
cry  *  keat,  keat,'  in  a  loud  shrill  voice,  it  denotes  that  his 
residence  there  shall  be  attended  with  evil. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  37 

"  I  now  beg  to  interpret  with  regard  to  the  spider.  If 
a  spider  on  the  ceiling  utter  a  low  tremulous  moan,  it  de- 
notes that  the  individual  who  hears  the  noise  shall  either 
change  his  residence,  or  that  his  goods  shall  be  stolen. 
If  it  utter  the  same  voice  on  the  outside  of  the  house,  and 
afterwards  the  spider  crawl  to  the  head  of  the  bed,  it  de- 
notes troublesome  visitors  and  quarrels  to  the  residents. 

"  I  now  beg  to  interpret  with  regard  to  dreams  and  vis- 
ions of  the  night.  If  an  individual  dream  on  Sunday, 
whether  it  be  good  or  evil,  it  pertains  to  others,  and  will  not 
affect  the  happiness  or  misery  of  the  person  himself.  If 
any  one  dream  on  Monday,  whether  good  or  evil,  it  will 
affect  his  friends  and  relations,  but  not  himself.  If  on  Tues- 
day, it  forebodes  good  or  evil  to  the  parents  of  the  dream- 
er. If  on  Wednesday,  the  omen  pertains  to  the  consort 
and  children  of  the  individual  who  dreams.  If  on  Thurs- 
day, it  relates  to  the  dreamer's  teachers  or  benefactors.  If 
on  Friday,  the  omen  belongs  to  the  servants  or  cattle  of 
the  individual.  If  on  Saturday,  it  forebodes  good  or  ill  to 
the  dreamer  himself. 

"  If  any  one  dream  of  having  or  wearing  handsome 
clothing,  it  denotes  great  peace  and  prosperity. 

"  If  one  dream  of  receiving  a  ring,  it  denotes  either  a 
speedy  marriage  or  the  birth  of  a  child. 

"  If  one  dream  of  putting  on  a  gold  ring,  it  denotes 
that  the  individual,  if  married,  shall  be  blessed  with  chil- 
dren of  great  beauty ;  or,  if  single,  with  a  beautiful  con- 
sort. 

"  If  one  dream  of  putting  on  new  clothes,  it  denotes 
speedy  marriage. 

"  If  one  dream  of  seeing  his  house  consumed  by  fire, 
and  of  being  much  burned,  let  him  take  a  lighted  candle, 
flowers,  and  other  offerings,  to  the  brink  of  a  river  or  ca- 
nal, and  there  relate  his  dream  to  some  friend.  If  he  omit 
this,  some  great  calamity  shall  surely  befall  him. 

"  If  he  dream  of  walking  on  the  air,  it  denotes  that  he 
shall  have  great  wisdom  and  be  renowned  for  learning. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  clothed  entirely  in  red,  let  him 
beware  lest  he  speedily  suffer  a  violent  death. 

*•  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  heavenly  being  of  great  beau- 
ty, or  the  spire  of  a  palace,  it  is  an  omen  of  good. 


38  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  If  he  dream  of  a  house  full  of  new-born  infants,  it  de- 
notes that  his  servants  shall  continue  faithful  and  true  to 
his  interests. 

"  If  he  dream  of  sleeping  in  a  boat  with  one  foot  in  wa- 
ter and  afterwards  his  head  falling  in,  let  him  not  relate 
the  dream  to  any  one,  but  seek  a  large  tree,  and  seating 
himself  under  it,  there  tell  over  the  dream,  and  great  good 
shall  result. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  princess,  let  him  relate  the 
dream  to  himself  on  the  bank  of  a  river  or  canal,  and 
prosperity  shall  surely  attend  him. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  woman  of  beautiful  form,  his 
consort  shall  exactly  resemble  her. 

"  If  he  dream  of  reading  prayers  or  sacred  books,  it 
denotes  that  all  his  sins  shall  be  pardoned  by  the  gods. 

"  If  one  dream  of  holding  an  umbrella  to  protect  him- 
self from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  it  denotes  that  he  shall  rise 
to  greater  eminence  than  any  of  his  ancestors  or  family 
have  done. 

"  If  one  dream  of  blowing  a  trumpet,  or  beating  drums 
and  kettles,  he  shall  be  raised  to  an  office  of  great  emi- 
nence. 

"  If  he  dream  of  placing  an  image  of  Budh  in  a  temple, 
it  is  an  omen  of  supreme  happiness. 

*•'  If  he  dream  of  being  struck  by  a  thunderbolt,  it  de- 
notes his  speedy  and  violent  death. 

"  If  he  dream  of  travelling  on  a  tiger  or  an  alligator  to 
some  distant  land,  it  denotes  that  he  shall  be  regarded  with 
terror  and  suspicion  by  all  his  acquaintances. 

"  If  one  dream  of  the  entrails  being  torn  out  of  his  body, 
it  denotes  continued  health  to  himself,  family,  and  friends. 

"  If  he  dream  of  riding  in  an  ox-cart,  let  him  beware,  it 
is  an  omen  of  evil. 

"  If  one  dream  of  eating  the  sun  or  moon,  it  denotes  that 
he  shall  be  a  great  prophet  and  magician. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  bitten  by  a  tiger,  it  denotes  that 
lie  shall  receive  valuable  presents  from  a  beautiful  woman. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  the  moon  fall  and  then  eating  it, 
it  is  an  omen  of  the  greatest  possible  good,  let  him  remem- 
ber it. 

"  If  he  dream  of  bathing  in  a  pool,  dressed  entirely  in 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  39 

white,  of  being  able  to  walk  on  the  water,  and  bringing  up 
the  lotus-flower  from  the  pool,  it  denotes  a  speedy  and 
happy  marriage. 

"  If  one  dream  of  gathering  flowers  and  placing  them 
behind  the  ear,  let  him  offer  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  and  he 
shall  speedily  obtain  a  beautiful  wife. 

"  If  one  dream  of  walking  on  roads  covered  with  gold 
and  silver,  let  him  carefully  offer  sacrifices,  and  all  his  de- 
sires shall  be  gratified. 

"  If  he  dream  of  losing  a  hand  and  ear,  he  shall  speedily 
be  seated  on  a  throne. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  many  dead  people,  it  denotes 
that  he  shall  be  free  from  trouble  all  his  life. 

"  If  he  dream  of  having  the  right  leg  bitten  by  a  snake, 
whatever  property  he  may  have  lost  shall  be  speedily  re- 
covered. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  toad  enter  a  house,  he  shall 
possess  great  treasures. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  fanned  by  another,  he  shall  be- 
come a  magistrate  of  great  authority. 

"  If  he  dream  that  he  sees  a  great  many  persons  dance 
together,  it  denotes  that  he  will  die  in  a  prison. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  lady  splendidly  attired,  he  shall 
pass  all  his  days  amid  peace  and  plenty. 

"  If  one  dream  of  stabbing  himself,  he  shall  be  made  a 
noble  of  high  rank. 

"  If  he  dream  of  his  body  emitting  the  fragrance  of  flow- 
ers, it  denotes  that  he  shall  have  a  beautiful  daughter,  who 
shall  be  the  consort  of  a  king. 

"  If  he  dream  of  eating  the  raw  hand  of  a  dead  man,  it 
denotes  that  he  shall  be  king  of  his  country. 

"  If  he  dream  of  eating  the  head  of  a  man,  dressed  up 
as  food,  he  shall  possess  great  treasures,  but  shall  die  at  an 
early  age. 

"  If  one  dream  of  his  teeth  dropping  out,  it  denotes  sick- 
ness and  death. 

"  If  one  dream  of  his  own  death,  it  denotes  long  contin- 
ued prosperity. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  woman  adorned  with  red  flow- 
ers, clothed  entirely  in  red,  and  having  her  body  painted 
red,  it  denotes  that  in  seven  days  he  shall  die. 


40  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  woman  clothed  in  black,  and 
holding  black  flowers,  it  denotes  the  stealing  of  his  goods 
and  his  own  death. 

'*  If  he  dream  of  an  elephant  standing  over  the  mouth 
of  a  water-jar,  he  shall  possess  rank  and  affluence,  and  all 
his  friends  shall  take  refuge  in  him. 

"  If  one  dream  of  weeping  much,  he  shall  see  pleasant 
sights. 

"  If  he  dream  of  having  the  flesh  cut  off  his  bones,  it 
denotes  elevation  of  rank. 

"  If  he  dream  of  his  eyelashes  coming  out,  it  denotes 
that  his  money  and  treasures  shall  be  stolen  by  a  woman. 

"  If  he  dream  of  a  frog  eating  the  sun  and  moon,  it  de- 
notes continued  happiness. 

**  If  he  dream  of  falling  down  and  rising  without  injury, 
it  is  an  omen  of  good. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  in  great  distress,  let  him  make 
offerings,  it  is  an  omen  of  good. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  hung,  it  denotes  good  fortune. 

"  If  he  dream  of  stretching  out  his  tongue,  eyes,  and 
nose,  it  forebodes  a  violent  and  distressing  headache. 

"  If  he  dream  of  being  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  others 
and  attended  by  music  and  rejoicings, it  forebodes  the  death 
of  his  consort  and  children. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  bat  on  the  roof  of  his  house, 
it  denotes  the  supreme  favor  of  the  Deity. 

"  If  he  dream  of  seeing  a  star  of  uncommon  splendor  fall 
into  his  house,  his  consort  shall  be  the  daughter  of  a  king." 

Not  being  a  strenuous  believer  in  dreams  myself,  I  have 
sought  to  select  a  few  specimens  rather  of  the  curious  and 
characteristic  kind  than  those  of  general  application  from 
this  manuscript  interpretation  of  the  Siamese  Dream  Book. 
It  would  be  curious,  were  the  whole  of  it  published,  to  trace 
out  the  resemblances  between  many  of  the  dreams  (some 
of  them  embracing  the  precise  words)  and  those  in  modern 
times  ;  and  if  the  modern  omen  derived  not  its  origin  from 
the  Siamese  Dream  Book,  the  omen  of  the  modern  and  of 
the  dreamers  among  the  Siamese  must  have  had  a  com- 
mon origin.  And  it  would  still  further  be  curious  to  run 
the  parallel  between  these  signs  and  omens  and  those  of 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  some  of  which  are  so  strikingly 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  41 

similar  that  their  origin  seems  to  point  to  a  common  fount 
of  superstition  and  credulity,  all  taking  us  back  to  a  com- 
mon people  and  ancestry. 

The  manuscript  from  which  I  have  been  transcribing 
concludes  with  the  following  paragraph  : 

"  The  interpretation  of  dreams  is  ended.  Whoever  has 
the  foregoing  dreams,  whether  man  or  woman,  may  rely 
upon  the  interpretation  here  given.  If  one  dream  in  the 
first  watch  of  the  night,  after  eight  months  the  dream 
shall  be  accomplished.  If  he  dream  in  the  second  watch, 
after  four  days  the  dream  shall  be  fulfilled.  If  he  dream 
in  the  third  watch,  in  one  day  the  result  shall  be  made 
known.  If  he  dream  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night, 
the  period  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  dream  is  uncer- 
tain. 

"  The  end  of  the  Siamese  Dream  Book." 

There  is  much  of  the  customs  and  the  manners  and  the 
religion  and  characteristic  modes  of  the  thinking  of  the  Si- 
amese to  be  noted  in  this  otherwise  uninteresting  work,  to 
the  more  enlightened  Christian.  The  allusions  in  it  to  the 
occasional  fate  of  the  moon,  induces  me  to  introduce  in  this 
connection,  a  curious  paper,  derived  from  the  same  source 
as  the  manuscript  Dream  Book.  It  shows  how  a  nation's 
superstition  modifies  their  philosophy,  religion,  and  enters 
into  all  their  habits  of  thought  connected  with  their  private 
and  public  life. 

"THE  MOON  DEVOURED  BY  RAHU. 

"  I  will  relate  a  story  concerning  what  happened  when 
Budh  had  perfected  himself  in  Chetuwau  Temple,  in  the 
city  of  Sawatthi,  in  South  Behar.  When  the  moon  was 
full  it  was  seized  by  Rahu,  who  hid  its  beams  and  obscured 
its  brightness. 

"  In  the  morning  the  attendants  of  Gandana  came  in 
haste,  and  having  bowed  their  heads  in  adoration,  told  him 
what  had  happened.  Seeing  their  terror,  his  compassion 
was  excited,  and  he  said  to  them,  '  Cheer  up,  my  lords,  be 
of  good  heart,  and  listen  to  a  story  of  three  tewas  (heav- 
enly beings)  who  were  brothers.  In  ancient  times,  since 
which  creatures  have  been  transmigrating  through  seve- 


42  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ral  hundred  systems  of  worlds,  there  lived  a  man  of  hon- 
orable race,  named  Kunla,  in  the  capital  of  Hongsawadi, 
who  had  three  sons.  The  title  of  the  first  was  Lord 
Watio ;  of  the  second,  Lord  Khun ;  and  of  the  third, 
Lord  Ratthako.  On  one  occasion,  when  alone  in  a  jungle, 
they  took  their  food  and  curry-put  to  cook  their  dinner  in 
haste.  The  elder  mixed  the  food,  the  second  prepared 
the  vegetables,  and  the  younger  took  wood  and  built  a 
fire  under  the  rice-pot.  While  thus  employed,  the  smoke 
from  the  fire  affecting  the  eyes  of  the  elder,  he  broke  out 
in  abusive  language  to  his  two  brothers,  upon  which,  the 
second,  being  vexed,  snatched  a  ladle  from  the  hand  of 
the  elder  and  beat  the  head  of  the  younger  brother,  who 
in  his  turn  being  enraged,  uttered  the  following  impreca- 
tion against  his  two  brothers  :  '  Hereafter,  whatever  pow- 
er you  may  attain  to,  may  I  exceed  you  ten  thousand  times, 
in  order  to  tease  and  annoy  you,  until  I  have  avenged  my- 
self,' thus  laying  aside  his  anger  to  a  future  state. 

"At  length,  after  these  brothers  had  transmigrated  through 
many  states,  they  were  born  again  as  three  brothers,  in  the 
days  of  Gandana.  And  going  in  company  to  make  offer- 
ings to  him,  the  first  put  a  golden  cup  into  his  begging- 
box,  the  second  put  a  silver  one,  and  the  third  gave  a 
black  curry-pot,  after  which  they  entreated  that  their  fu- 
ture state  might  correspond  with  their  several  offerings ; 
and  Gandana  bestowed  his  blessing  upon  them  three  times 
in  succession.  When  their  life  on  earth  was  finished,  they 
ascended  to  heaven,  where  the  elder  became  the  sun,  the 
second  the  moon,  the  younger  a  monstrous  black  tewa, 
called  Rahii. 

"  Rahii's  height  was  forty-eight  thousand  miles.  His 
arms  were  thirteen  thousand  miles  asunder.  His  face  mea- 
sured five  thousand  miles.  His  head,  nine  thousand  miles. 
His  forehead,  three  thousand  miles.  The  space  between 
the  eyebrows,  five  hundred  miles.  His  nose  was  three  thou- 
sand miles  long.  His  nostrils  were  three  thousand  miles 
deep.  His  mouth  was  of  a  deep-red  color,  and  was  two 
thousand  miles  wide.  His  fingers  and  toes  were  of  equal 
lengths,  that  is,  five  hundred  miles. 

"  Rahii  is  bold,  fierce,  and  malicious.  He  watches  the 
sun  and  moon  continually ;  and  when  the  latter  is  full,  he 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  43 

hates  her  so  excessively  that  he  cannot  rest,  but  stands  in  her 
path,  with  his  mouth  wide  open.  Sometimes  he  compresses 
her  between  his  lips.  Sometimes  hides  her  under  his  chin. 
Sometimes  buries  her  maliciously  in  the  hollow  of  his  cheek. 
And  sometimes,  shuts  her  up  in  his  hand,  according  to  his 
inclination.  On  account  of  his  former  imprecation  his 
anger  cannot  cease,  for  his  prayer  was  answered  by  the 
great  teacher  of  religion.  When  the  sun  and  moon  are 
thus  annoyed,  being  greatly  frightened,  they  recite  their 
prayers  in  great  haste.  For,  the  sun  being  only  500  miles 
in  circumference,  and  the  moon  290  miles,  when  thrust  into 
Rahu's  mouth,  they  lose  themselves,  and  are  as  if  they  had 
fallen  into  the  infernal  regions.  All  the  heavenly  damsels 
being  alarmed  at  this,  cry  out  in  great  distress — some 
dishevelling  their  hair  and  beating  their  breasts,  cry  out, 
*  The  moon  is  destroyed — we  remember  all  her  beauty — 
she  was  a  bright  body  and  protected  us  from  evil.  Rahu 
is  very  audacious  thus  to  frighten  her  in  her  path  !' 

"  The  astrologers  say  that  this  phenomenon  forebodes 
evil.  When  Rahu  has  released  the  moon,  he  enters  his 
palace  in  haste,  and  throwing  himself  down,  says  that  he 
has  been  playing  tricks  with  the  moon,  in  consequence  of 
which  his  head  is  almost  strained  asunder,  and  that  he  is 
nearly  dead. 

"  Thus  Rahu  and  the  sun  and  moon  are  at  perpetual  va- 
riance."* 

It  must  at  once  strike  the  reader,  that  such  absurdities  en- 
tering into  the  religious  and  credulous  systems  of  the  Siam- 
ese, one  effectual  way  of  convincing  them  of  the  error  of 
their  own  teachers,  and  that  the  systems  to  which  they 
adhere  are  false,  is  by  giving  the  rising  generation  among 
them  true  ideas  in  connection  with  astronomy  and  philoso- 
phy. It  is  said  that  their  system  of  religion  embraces  the 
idea  that  there  is  a  central  mountain  in  the  universe,  and 
that  about  this  are  located  seven  states  of  existences.  The 

*  "  The  above  corresponds  precisely  with  the  belief  of  the  Siam- 
ese generally.  All  eclipses  are  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  this 
fabulous  monster,  whom  they  endeavor  to  frighten  off  by  beating 
drums,  kettles,  etc.,  and  exerting  their  voices  in  producing  the  most 
hideous  and  frightful  noises.  When  the  eclipse  is  over,  they  think 
they  have  succeeded." 

31 


44  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

earth  is  one  and  the  lowest  for  men  and  animals.  Above 
it  are  the  others,  arranged  for  heavenly  existences  accord- 
ing to  the  respective  excellencies  of  their  natures  and 
spiritual  prowess.  The  light  of  true  philosophy  alone 
will  do  away  such  absurdities,  and  with  the  undermining 
of  the  basis  of  their  system  must  crumble  the  fabric  of 
their  superstitions.  A  fit  illustration  of  this  sentiment  is 
found  in  an  anecdote  repeated  to  me  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
White,  the  English  chaplain  at  Singapore.  A  gentleman 
of  scientific  tastes,  in  India,  at  considerable  expense  and 
trouble,  procured  a  fine  microscope  from  England.  Hav- 
ing properly  arranged  it,  he  invited  a  Bramin  to  look  at 
its  developments.  The  Hindoo  priest  gazed  with  aston- 
ishment at  the  revelations  which  a  drop  of  water,  exposed 
to  the  effects  of  the  microscope,  made  to  him.  He  had 
for  a  long  sainted  life,  according  to  the  tenets  of  his  Bra- 
minical  system,  been  priding  himself  on  the  consistency  of 
his  action  with  his  creed,  in  never  having,  in  any  instance, 
destroyed  life.  Here  his  whole  self-complacency,  and  his 
supposed  consistency  of  a  long  life,  and  profoundly  be- 
lieved tenets  of  his  system,  were  at  once  overthrown  and 
destroyed.  He  manifested  the  greatest  agitation.  And 
after  an  interval  begged  that  he  might  be  possessed  of  so 
remarkable  a  thing.  The  owner,  finding  it  difficult  to  re- 
ject the  unceasing  importunities  of  the  Bramin,  finally  con- 
sented that  he  should  have  it.  The  Bramin  took  it — and 
having  left  the  dwelling  of  his  friend,  was  watched  on  his 
way  as  he  departed,  when  he  was  seen  to  take  the  lenses 
and  deliberately  demolish  them  all  between  two  stones. 
The  donor  having  expressed  his  surprise  and  displeasure, 
was  answered,  with  a  triumphant  air,  on  the  part  of  the 
Bramin,  that  "  he  had  thus  acted  and  was  now  hapyy ;  but 
while  that  instrument  was  in  existence  his  religion  was 
unsafe.  Had  it  gotten  abroad,  the  system  of  the  Bramins 
would  have  been  overthrown." 

What  then  is  the  moral  of  these  facts  ?  It  is  that  in 
all  the  actions  of  the  missionary,  he  should  aim  to  spread 
correct  and  incontrovertible  first  principles  in  philosophy; 
and  that  instruments  which  should  amuse  and  practically 
instruct  the  native  children  and  make  them  wiser  than 
their  superstitious  fathers,  should  accompany  the  mission- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  45 

ary  abroad,  and  be  used  in  enlightening  the  mind  of  the 
heathen,  and  riving  the  chain  that  now  holds  them  in  obe- 
dient ignorance  to  their  superstitions  of  cast  and  binding 
habits  of  many  centuries. 

SIAMESE    TEN    COMMANDMENTS. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader  to  have  in- 
troduced here  the  Siamese  ten  commandments,  found  in 
the  sacred  books  of  the  Budhists  ;  the  first  five  being  ob- 
ligatory upon  all  the  people,  the  last  five  upon  the  priest- 
hood only. 

1.  Do  not  kill  animals. 

2.  Do  not  steal. 

3.  Do  not  commit  adultery. 

4.  Do  not  tell  lies. 

5.  Do  not  drink  ardent  spirits. 

7.  Do  not  eat  any  thing  from  mid-day  until  past  mid- 
night. 

8.  Do  not  sleep  on  a  place  more  than  one  cubit  high. 
8.  Do  not  anoint  your  body  with  fragrant  oil  or  powder. 
10.  Do  not  look  at  a  female,  nor  at  theatrical  exhibi^ 

tions. 

The  missionaries  at  Bankok,  the  capital  of  Siam,  are 
said  to  have  the  favor  of  the  king  and  his  court  at  the 
present  time.  A  very  beautiful  specimen  of  Japanese 
work,  in  an  article  of  a  lady's  dressing  box,  occupies  Mrs. 
Davenport's  table,  which  was  a  present  from  one  of  the 
princes  of  the  kingdom,  who  partially  speaks  English  and 
frequently  visits  the  missionary  families. 

I  trust  I  shall  not  be  deemed  departing  from  the  most 
delicate  dictates  of  considerate  and  partial  friendship,  by 
introducing  the  following  lines,  associated  with  the  lady 
already  mentioned,  as  one  of  the  missionary  band  located 
in  Siam,  whose  residence  for  the  few  months  past  at  Sin- 
gapore, has  given  me  the  pleasure  of  her  acquaintance. 
They  were  written  by  her  brother  on  the  departure  of 
his  sister  from  her  home  for  this  foreign  land,  with  breath- 
ings of  Christian  benevolence  towards  a  heathen  people 
swelling  her  young  bosom.  They  do  credit  to  the  writer, 
as  evidencing  a  mind  imaginative  and  cultivated,  and  a 


46  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

heart  swelling  with  the  refined  and  warm  sensibilities  of 
a  brother.  How  should  they  shame  the  coarse  perceptions 
of  those  persons,  who  are  incapable  of  appreciating  the 
delicate  and  pure  sympathies  of  a  Christian  heart  that 
goes  out  in  generous  and  ennobling  feelings  of  interest  for 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  a  benighted  people  ;  but  who,  in 
the  absence  of  a  kindred  benevolence,  seem  ever  to  seek 
for  some  sinister  motive  as  the  propelling  cause  that  urges 
the  self-sacrificing  missionary  to  leave  the  endearments 
of  his  native  land  for  the  chances  and  the  toils  of  a  foreign, 
strange,  and  unlettered  race  !  If  ever  there  were  a  gen- 
erous forgetting  of  one's  self  for  the  good  of  others — if 
ever  there  were  a  scene  of  moral  beauty  that  the  mag- 
nanimous and  the  ingenuous  of  heart  would  admire,  and 
to  which  they  would  accord  their  approbation  and  respect- 
ful but  unqualified  praise,  whatever  may  be  their  sentiments 
as  to  the  practicability  of  the  missionary  cause,  it  is  seen 
in  the  young,  and  intelligent,  and  refined,  and  Christian 
female,  who,  unmindful  of  the  ties  of  kindred  and  home, 
ventures  forth  in  reliance  upon  her  God  for  protection  and 
support,  to  dare  the  vicissitudes  of  a  missionary  life  among 
a  heathen  people.  I  envy  not  that  man  his  head  or  his 
lieart  who  perceives  not  and  feels  not  the  moral  effect  of 
such  a  picture.  To  him,  the  tear,  the  sigh,  the  parting 
word,  the  glowing  enthusiasm  of  a  young  and  ardent  and 
Christian  heart,  the  moral  energy  of  a  cultivated  mind, 
encased  in  a  form  fragile  but  fair,  are  things  which  must 
have  lost  what  another  reads  in  them — the  truest  poetry 
of  nature. 

How  apropos  the  lines  alluded  to  will  be  found  in 
many  instances  besides  the  interesting  one  which  origina- 
ted them  !  I  suppose  they  have  never  before  been  printed. 

"THE  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  BRIDE. 

"  The  time  had  come.     The  stern  clock  struck  the  hour. 
Each  long-loved  haunt  had  shared  a  mute  farewell, 
And  drank  a  blessing  from  her  loving  eye 
For  the  last  time.     But  now  the  climax  came. 
Methought  she  lingered  long,  as  if  to  gain 
Respite  from  some  more  dreaded  pang, 
Appalling  though  unfelt ;  for,  near  her  side, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  47 

With  eye  close  following  where  her  darling  moved, 
Her  widowed  mother  stood.     And  so  she  laid 
Her  on  that  dear  breast,  where  every  pain 
Of  infancy  was  soothed.     And  then  arose 
One  wTild,  deep  sob  of  weeping,  such  as  breaks 
Upon  the  ear  of  death,  when  he  hath  torn 
The  nerve  fast-rooted  in  the  fount  of  life. 
'Tis  o'er — the  bitterness  is  past,  young  bride  ! 
No  heavier  dreg  shall  quiver  on  thy  lip 
Till  the  last  ice-cup  cometh. 

"  Then  she  turned 

To  him  who  was  to  be  her  sole  shelter  now, 
And  placed  her  hand  in  his,  and  raised  her  eye 
One  moment  upwards,  whence  her  help  did  come. 
Then,  with  a  steadfast  step,  paced  forth  to  take 
Her  life-long  portion  in  a  heathen  clime. 

"  Yet  to  me  it  seemed 

That,  in  the  flush  of  youth  and  health,  to  take 
Death's  parting  was  a  strange,  unnatural  thing ; 
And  that  the  faithful  martyr,  who  doth  yield 
His  body  to  the  fire's  fierce  purifier 
But  one  brief  hour,  hath  lighter  claims  on  heaven 
For  high  endurance,  than  the  tender  bride, 
Who,  from  her  mother's  bosom  lifts  her  head, 
To  'bide  the  buffets  of  an  Indian  clime, 
Bearing  the  sorrows  of  a  woman's  lot, 
Perchance  for  many  years." 

The  moral  courage,  the  devoted  zeal,  and  the  free 
sacrifices  of  the  missionary,  to  be  rightly  estimated,  must 
be  viewed  in  connection  with  the  positive  conveniences 
they  were  enjoying  at  the  time  of  their  decision  to  leave 
their  homes  ;  their  many  means  of  happiness,  social  and 
intellectual  privileges,  for  the  probable  exposure,  difficul- 
ties and  trials  that  were  expected  to  be  their  lot  abroad. 
It  was  in  full  view  of  such  a  contrast  their  resolutions 
were  taken  ;  resigning  the  reality  of  the  present  and  the 
pleasant,  for  the  uncertainty  of  the  doubtful  and  appre- 
hended future.  If,  however,  on  reaching  a  foreign  coun- 
try, they  find  that  Providence  has  so  disposed  things  as  to 
render  their  situation  more  comfortable,  in  external  cir- 
cumstances, than  they  expected,  it  becomes  a  matter  for 
gratitude  on  their  own  part,  their  friends  at  home,  and 
Christians  universally  ;  their  conveniences  being  so  much 
the  more  advantageous  for  prosecuting  their  benevolent 
labors,  as  is  their  situation  the  more  favorable  than  they 

31* 


48  A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

anticipated.  Thus  we  have  found  the  missionaries  at  this 
station.  Their  dwelling-houses  are  spacious,  and  neatly 
but  plainly  furnished ;  having  been  built  before  they  reach- 
ed the  place,  and  affording  pleasant  residences,  at  a  rea- 
sonable rent.  Most  of  the  houses  of  the  missionaries  are 
occupied  by  two  families ;  and  at  the  present,  while  the 
Borneo  missionaries  are  remaining  at  Singapore,  they  are 
residents  in  the  same  buildings  with  their  brethren.  The 
building  on  the  hill,  most  pleasantly  situated,  is  the  most 
spacious  one  occupied  by  the  missionaries.  The  rooms 
are  so  arranged  as  to  render  it  convenient  for  the  two  fam- 
ilies who  occupy  it,  and  a  large  hall  in  the  centre  affords 
a  room  for  worship  on  Sunday,  and  religious  meetings 
during  the  week.  These  buildings  and  lot,  it  is  said,  are 
offered  for  sale  ;  and  I  should  deem  it  a  most  proper  pur- 
chase, if  the  Society  at  home  have  the  funds  to  secure  it.* 
It  is  here  the  missionary  families  gather  to  their  afternoon 
worship  ;  and,  in  themselves,  they  form  a  respectable  ga- 
thering, even  in  numbers.  Their  scholars  are  also  present, 
and  those  connected  with  the  mission.  It  is  a  matter  of 
gratification  to  me  to  be  able  to  say  that  these  rooms  have 
been  a  favorite  place  of  resort  to  many  of  our  officers  for 
the  afternoon  service,  during  the  stay  of  our  ships  at  Sin- 
gapore. In  the  morning  the  Episcopal  church  is  open, 
and  it  is  usual  for  the  missionaries  and  all  others  to  frequent 
it  for  the  morning  services.  There  is  also  a  Scotch  chapel 
where  service  is  held  on  Wednesday  evenings. 

On  the  first  Sunday  in  March,  two  of  the  gentlemen, 
Messrs.  Thompson  and  Polhman  of  the  mission,  officiated, 
at  the  invitation  of  Commodore  Read,  on  board  the  Co- 
lumbia. The  selection  of  persons  was  left  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  gentlemen  of  the  mission  themselves.  Some 
one  of  their  number  has  also  regularly  held  services  each 
Sunday  on  board  the  John  Adams,  during  our  stay  at  this 
port.  And  it  is  a  remark  that  gives  me  great  pleasure  in 

*  The  low  bungalow,  one  story  high,  with  verandahs  extending 
quite  around  it,  and  costing  from  six  hundred  to  one  thousand  dol- 
lars, I  believe  is  the  style  of  building  which  the  missionaries  would 
prefer,  did  their  funds  render  it  compatible  for  them  to  build  them. 
There  are  but  a  few  such  buildings,  I  should  think,  in  Singapore. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Travelli  occupies  one. 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  49 

recording  it  here,  that  almost  all  the  officers  of  the  squad- 
ron (I  do  not  know  one  exception  among  those  who  have 
formed  their  acquaintance)  have  given  to  the  missionary 
families,  now  at  this  station,  their  cordial  good  wishes,  and 
they  regard  them  as  a  band  of  worthy  men  and  women 
sincerely  engaged  in  a  cause  of  philanthropy  and  religion, 
ennobling  and  grand  in  its  purposes  and  expected  results. 
And  I  know  that  a  good  number  of  these  officers  will  leave 
their  missionary  friends  at  Singapore,  with  hearts  warmed 
in  kindness  towards  them  personally,  and  giving  them, 
with  their  sympathies  and  their  prayers,  the  cordial  hopes 
that  they  may  be  successful  arid  happy  in  the  devotion  of 
their  lives  to  the  noble  and  holy  cause  of  throwing  the 
light  of  the  Christian  religion  in  the  pathway  of  a  benight- 
ed people. 

I  accompanied  the  Rev.  Messrs.  T.  and  P.,  on  their 
return  to  shore  from  our  ship,  and  officiated,  agreeably  to 
previous  arrangement,  at  the  missionary  room  on  the  hill, 
in  the  afternoon.  It  was  their  communion  day,  being  the 
first  Sunday  in  the  month.  All  the  missionaries  were 
present  and  their  ladies,  and  some  of  the  officers  from 
both  ships.  The  room  was  well  filled,  and  I  shall  not 
forget  the  interest  of  a  season,  so  peculiar  to  us,  privileged, 
in  our  course  around  the  world,  a  moment  to  pause  here 
and  to  mingle  with  a  band  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  so 
worthy,  in  a  region  so  far  from  the  land  of  our  mutual 
and  native  homes.  And  here  was  a  beautiful  exemplifi- 
cation of  the  union  of  Christian  hearts  of  different  per- 
suasions— the  Presbyterian,  the  Dutch  Reformed,  and  the 
Scotch  Independent.  There  were  Chinese  converts  (a  few) 
who  joined  in  the  communion.  I  shall  remember,  as  an 
agreeable  reminiscence  of  these  worthy  missionaries,  the 
range  of  their  numbers,  as  they  lined  the  room  on  this  oc- 
casion of  an  interesting  meeting.  And  I  doubt  not  that 
their  thoughts,  with  all  their  unfaltering  purpose  of  a  life's 
devotion  to  the  cause  they  had  espoused,  went  far  over 
sea  to  those  they  had  left  and  still  loved  in  a  distant  land. 
Their  heads  at  least  were  bowed  in  the  indulgence  of 
their  overflowing  emotions.  These  lines  may  meet  the 
eyes  of  some  of  them,  when  I  would  again  say  in  the 
language  I  then  used,  "  Cheer !  in  view  of  the  necessary 


50  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

efforts,  in  the  absence  of  the  age  of  miracles,  which  you 
are  now  putting  forth  in  your  unwearied  work  of  acquir- 
ing the  languages ;  in  your  patient  instructions  of  groups 
of  children ;  in  the  spread  of  the  word  of  God  in  their 
native  tongue,  and  other  works  exemplifying  the  eternal 
principles  of  the  fitness,  mercy,  and  salvation,  which  the 
Bible  develops.  Cheer !  in  the  knowledge  that  ye  are 
working  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  converts  and  sancti- 
fies the  souls  of  men,  "THROUGH  THE  TRUTH."  Yours  is  the 
precise  action  that  must  take  place,  in  the  very  nature  of 
mind,  as  the  precursor  of  that  morn,  when  a  day  without 
its  night  shall  illumine  both  hemispheres  of  the  earth. 
Cheer !  in  your  hours  of  shade  and  sorrow,  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  your  disinterested  and  benevolent  action. 
The  darkest  moment  of  midnight  is  just  before  the  break 
of  day.  Cheer !  in  your  joyous  gush  of  happy  anticipa- 
tion, for  there  are  gleams  of  light  already  streaming  all 
around  the  moral  horizon  of  a  benighted  world.  Cheer ! 
for  the  warm  hearts  of  Christian  millions  are  with  you  ; 
and  the  pure  tear  that  would  have  graced  an  angel's  eye, 
has  pearled  its  way  on  the  cheek  of  many  who  have  given 
for  you  their  prayers." 

On  the  succeeding  Wednesday  evening,  1  dined  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  J.  Stronach,  and  preached  in  the  Scotch 
chapel.  A  number  from  the  families  of  the  town,  with  the 
missionaries  in  the  neighborhood,  attend  the  evening  ser- 
vices at  the  Scotch  chapel.  It  is  a  convenient  edifice  for 
the  purposes  designed,  and  the  two  Scotch  gentlemen 
seemed  to  be  favorably  located  for  the  prosecution  of  their 
plans.  They  are  acquiring  the  Chinese  language,  in  view 
of  laboring  among  this  most  numerous  class  of  people, 
in  Singapore.  I  met  the  Chinese  convert,  Leang  Afat,  at 
Mr.  A.  Stronach's,  a  short  time  previously.  This  Chinese 
has  been  expelled  from  the  Chinese  empire,  in  consequence 
of  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  is  now  engaged  in 
revising  the  Chinese  Bible.  His  personal  appearance  is 
prepossessing ;  and  I  bear  a  letter,  with  some  Httle  me- 
mentoes of  a  father's  affection,  from  him  to  his  son  Leang 
A-tih,  who  is  with  the  son  of  Dr.  Morrison,  at  Canton. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  51 


LANGUAGE    OF    THE    MALAYS. 

The  language  of  the  Malays  is  probably  more  exten- 
sively spoken  than  any  other  throughout  the  eastern  seas, 
and  has  justly  derived  for  itself  the  appellation  of  the  Lin- 
gua  Franca  of  this  part  of  the  globe.  It  is  strikingly  soft 
and  euphonious,  and  may  be  styled,  not  inaptly,  the  Italian 
of  the  East.  It  is  said,  by  those  who  are  capable  of  ap- 
preciating its  excellencies  as  well  as  its  defects,  that  it  is 
favorable  in  its  combinations  to  poetry,  and  that  the  Ma- 
lays are  fond  of  rhythm,  which  they  attempt  in  proverbs 
and  love-songs.  There  is  pith,  at  least,  in  the  first,  and 
sentiment  in  the  second  distich  of  the  following  two  speci- 
mens : 

"  What  signifies  attempting  to  light  a  lamp, 
If  the  wick  be  wanting  1" 

"  What  signifies  playing  with  the  eyes, 
If  nothing  in  earnest  be  intended  ?" 

They  say,  when  expressing  their  sentiment  of  fatalism, 
which  so  thoroughly  enters  into  the  creed  of  those  imbued 
with  Mohammedanism : 

"  Those  who  are  dead  are  dead ;  those  who  survive 
must  work.  If  his  allotted  time  is  expired,  what  resource 
is  there  ?" 

The  Malays,  so  far  as  is  yet  known,  have  never  had 
any  original  set  of  characters  to  designate  their  elementary 
sounds  of  speech.  They  use  the  Arabic  characters  in 
their  written  language,  with  some  modifications ;  and  as 
a  consequence,  together  with  their  association  with  the 
Mohammedans  in  the  adoption  of  their  religion,  they 
have  introduced  many  Arabic  words  ;  and  from  the  early 
intercourse  with  the  Portuguese  throughout  these  regions  . 
a  number  of  words  from  the  language  of  these  early  ad- 
venturers are  also  found  incorporated  with  the  Malay. 
Their  words,  nouns  and  verbs,  are  without  inflections,  and 
therefore  no  grammar  of  their  language,  according  to  our 
general  notions  on  the  subject,  can  be  formed. 

Singapore  is  a  central  position  of  the  thousand  isles  and 
large  extent  of  coasts  where  this  language  is  spoken* 


52  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Most  of  the  missionaries  study  it,  and  it  forms  one  of  the 
languages  taught  in  the  Literary  Institution  at  Singapore. 
Mr.  A.  North,  attached  to  the  mission  here,  is  spoken 
of  as  one  of  the  best  Malay  scholars  of  the  place,  and 
certainly  manifests  a  commendable  zeal  in  the  pursuit  of 
Malay  literature.  With  this  gentleman  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  occasional  interviews,  and  am  indebted  to  him  for  the 
translation  of  several  Malay  manuscripts,  which  I  shall  in- 
troduce here  for  their  curiosity,  and  also  as  having  a  con- 
nection with  the  transactions  of  our  ships  on  the  west 
coast  of  Sumatra. 

PO  CHUTE  ABDULLAH'S  EPISTLE. 

The  first  is  the  letter  of  obligation  on  the  part  of  Po 
Chute  Abdullah,  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  to  pay  two  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  following  is  the  translation  of  the  ori- 
ginal Malay.  Mr.  North  intentionally  retained  some  of 
the  peculiarities  of  the  original  in  the  translation  as  given: 

"  This  is  the  epistle  of  Po  Chute  Abdullah,  to  Com- 
mander Reej,  engaging  to  pay  two  thousand  dollars. 

**  As  to  the  bad  man,  he  has  not  been  caught ;  he  has 
fled. 

"  Now,  this  agreement  is  to  pay  the  said  money,  within 
twelve  months,  to  Commander  Reej,  or  to  any  other  ship 
which  shall  present  this  writing,  or  another  equivalent  to 
it,  whether  a  ship  of  war  or  a  trading- vessel ;  only  let  not 
another  ship  make  war  upon  the  country  of  Kwala  Batu. 
Hereby  is  peace  made  with  Commander  Reej,  and  hereby 
does  Po  Chute  Abdullah,  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  become 
his  friend  as  long  as  he  lives.  The  writing  is  finished.  By 
the  council  of  all  the  elders  of  Kwala  Batu  on  the  side  of 
Achin.  Our  words  are  ended,  wishing  you  peace  and 
tranquillity." 

The  following  is  added  in  the  hand- writing  of  Po 
Adam : 

"  This  writing  from  Po  Chute  Abdullah,  of  Kwala  Batu, 
is  given  to  Commodore  Reej,  on  Saturday,  the  17th  day 
of  the  festival  month,  in  the  year  1254.  Signed,  as  wit* 
ness,  by  Po  Adam,  Taku  Kadang." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  53 


The  next  document  is  a  letter  from  one  of  the  chiefs  of 
Muckie.  It  was  written  after  the  destruction  of  that 
place,  and  sent  to  Commodore  Read  while  the  ship  was 
lying  at  Soo-Soo,  filling  up  with  water.  It  is,  at  least,  a 
curious  document,  besides  other  things  containing  the 
Rajah's  own  account  of  the  murder  of  Captain  Wilkins. 
The  Rajah  is  wrong  in  one  particular,  and  may  be  in 
others.  Commodore  Read  made  no  promise  of  sending 
on  shore  after  the  second  interview  of  the  officer,  on  the 
day  preceding  the  destruction  of  the  town.  This  is  cer- 
tified to  by  Captain  Wyman  and  Lieutenant  Turner,  the 
officers  who  called  on  the  Rajahs  agreeably  to  the  orders 
of  the  Commodore. 

"  Now  this  is  the  document  of  the  great  chief  of  Muckie, 
to  the  Commander  of  the  ship  of  war  and  all  the  officers 
thereof.  As  are  the  particles  of  the  earth  and  the  stars  of 
the  sky  for  number,  even  so  many  and  more,  are  my 
compliments  to,  and  hopes  in,  the  Commander  of  the  Amer- 
ican ship  of  war. 

"  Now  I  make  known  to  you,  that  on  a  time,  Captain 
Wilkins  having  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Muckie,  Po  Ma- 
layu  went  on  board  his  ship.  The  Captain  put  confidence 
in  him,  but  not  in  us.  Po  Malayu  brought  his  ship  to 
Taluk  Pow,  where  he  took  in  some  pepper ;  he  then  took 
her  to  Sawang,  and  did  the  same ;  he  received  at  both 
places  say  about  one  thousand  piculs ;  he  then  conducted 
her  to  Tarbangan  and  took  in  more.  When  he  had  been 
at  that  place  two  or  three  days,  by  Divine  Providence, 
Panglina  Sanyak  Blang,  with  Lubby  Yusuf  at  night, 
bringing  pepper,  which  was  received  and  weighed  by  the 
captain  at  night ;  they  then  killed  the  captain,  and  took 
his  money  and  goods.  Lubby  Yusuf  then  returned  to  Ta- 
luk Pow.  It  was  then  reported  to  us  that  Captain  Wilkins 
was  made  away  with  by  Panglina  Sanyak  Blang  and 
Lubby  Yusuf.  I  then  sent  Taku  Yet  to  the  ship  of  Captain 
Silver,  directing  them  to  search  for  the  captured  vessel. 
After  Captain  Silver  had  been  gone  two  days,  I  sent  a  war- 
boat  with  my  scribe,  but  he  did  not  find  Captain  Wilkins's 


54  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ship  ;  and  Captain  Silver,  Taku  Yet,  and  my  war-boat,  all 
came  back  to  Muckie.  Two  or  three  days  after,  Captain 
Wilkins's  ship  came  with  Captain  Filbadi  (Peabody)  to 
Muckie.  The  mate  of  Captain  Wilkins  bought  of  me 
about  seven  hundred  pikuls  of  pepper.  I  told  Captains 
Silver  and  Filbadi,  and  Wilkins's  mate,  that  I  intended  to 
put  to  death  the  persons  engaged  in  this  murder,  and  re- 
cover the  plundered  property.  They  replied :  *  Don't  do 
it.  If  a  ship  of  war  comes  to  Muckie,  you  can  unite  your 
forces  with  her  ;  you  attacking  them  by  land  and  she  by 
water.'  Thus  did  I  agree  with  these  three  men.  Why 
should  they  give  me  these  directions  ?  Because  my  coun- 
try was  taken  along  with  three  countries  and  a  half,  to 
wit,  Samadu,  Taluk  Pow,  Sawang,  and  part  of  Muckie  ; 
for  this  reason  I  made  treaty  with  the  ship  of  war  which 
was  to  come. 

"  I  now  make  known  to  you  that  the  persons  who  com- 
mitted the  murder  were  Taku  Blangi,  Taku  Yikdul  and 
Taku  Nyik  Raja ;  their  scribe  was  the  scribe  of  Po  Ma- 
layu. 

"  Now  you  came  to  this  country  and  met  me  and  those 
men  at  Taku  Yet's  house  ;  you  told  us  all  to  go  on  board 
the  ship ;  I  said  I  would  go ;  but  the  others  said  they  would 
not.  The  reason  of  their  saying  so  was  that  they  suspected 
some  secret  understanding  between  you  and  me.  At 
twelve  o'clock  the  next  day  you  were  to  come  on  shore, 
but  at  eight  o'clock  you  commenced  firing.  During  my 
father's  life,  and  within  my  own  remembrance,  I  have  never 
known  white  men  to  violate  their  engagements,  whether 
for  good  or  evil.  I,  though  alive,  now  feel  like  a  dead 
man.  Now,  what  think  you  ?  I  wish  you  would  return 
me  answer  immediately  by  the  bearer. 

"  I  send  my  respects  to  my  brother,  Taku  Lambadar, 
who  is  on  board  the  American  ship  of  war,  and  request  him 
to  give  any  explanation  that  may  be  necessary,  because 
we  are  brethren.  The  end." 

"  The  original  of  the  above,"  adds  Mr.  North,  "  is  writ- 
ten in  a  very  confused  and  careless  manner.  It  must  have 
been  composed  by  an  exceedingly  illiterate  person.  It  has 
been  difficult  for  me  to  make  out  the  meaning,  even  with 
the  assistance  of  the  most  learned  Malay  in  Singapore. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  55 

The  passages  enclosed  in  red  (alluding  to  the  time  of  firing 
and  the  treaty  with  the  ship  of  war,  etc.)  are  the  most  ob- 
scure, and  I  am  not  confident  that  I  have  given  any  thing 
like  the  true  meaning.  Probably  some  one  familiar  with 
the  circumstances  alluded  to  in  these  two  passages  could 
throw  light  upon  them  and  enable  me  to  give  a  correct 
translation." 


The  next  paper  I  insert  is  a  translation  of  an  epistle  from 
Po  Kwala,  the  Pedir  Rajah  of  Kwala  Batu,  with  whom  a 
treaty  was  partly  formed  at  Pulau  Kayu  and  completed 
on  board  the  Columbia  : 

"Now  this  sincere  and  friendly  writing,  which  arises  from 
a  white  heart,  a  serene  countenance,  an  eloquent  tongue, 
and  true  faith,  comes  from  the  side  of  Taku  Rajah  Kwala, 
who  governs  the  country  of  Kwala  Batu  on  the  side  of 
Pedir.  We  send  many  compliments  to  the  commander 
and  all  the  elders  of  the  ship  of  war. 

"  Now  we  will  not  lengthen  out  our  words,  but  only 
make  a  short  statement.  The  Taku  Rajah  Kwala  would 
fain  touch  the  hand  and  see  the  eyes  of  the  commander  and 
all  the  elders ;  he  wishes  to  meet  you  all  at  Pulau  Kayu. 
If  you  are  willing,  let  the  commander  first  send  down  the 
elders  to  meet  Taku  Rajah  Kwala  on  shore,  because  the 
Rajah  wishes  immediately  to  ascend  the  ship.  It  is  al- 
ready known  to  you  that  the  son  of  the  Rajah  wishes  to 
accompany  his  father  on  board,  provided  you  give  permis- 
sion, since  the  Rajah  is  anxious  to  become  the  friend  of  the 
commander. 

"  Concerning  the  outrage  upon  your  countrymen :  The 
property  is  in  the  possession  of  an  Achin  chief  and  of  the 
man  who  committed  the  outrage  who  is  his  son  (subject.) 
Taku  Rajah  Kwala  and  his  sons  have  had  no  hand  in  this 
outrage,  and  no  portion  of  the  spoil.  What  now  is  the 
determination  of  your  Excellency,  since  I  am  a  poor  man  1 
Have  compassion  on  me.  Send  your  trading-vessels.  I 
have  pepper,  and  you  have  pepper  ships  in  your  country. 
Both  myself  and  my  royal  father  havealways'been  at  peace 
with  the  Americans,  as  says  Taku  Yet  Hed  ?  If  you  en- 

32 


56  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

tertain  any  doubts  concerning  the  truth  of  my  assertion, 
you  may  inquire  of  your  countrymen  who  is  right  and  who 
wrong.  Thus  may  your  perspicuous  Excellency  be  right- 
ly informed.  This  is  the  end. 

"  In  the  year  of  the  Flight  1255." 

The  last  document  will  be  regarded  as  the  most  graceful 
composition,  as  the  Rajah  Po  Kwala  was  the  most  genteel 
chiei  in  appearance  and  manners  we  met  ;  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  after  talk  with  this  chief,  and  the  place  and 
the  scene,  have  already  been  described. 

The  manuscript,  of  which  the  following  fac-simile  is  a 
copy,  was  given  me  by  Mr.  North,  as  a  beautiful  specimen 
of  Malay  manuscript.  It  is  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  the  Malay 
language  and  Arabic  characters: 


« 

JLww 


Jo  ft^o      ijLDs.         x         Jo 

Jo    s  J 


I  have  already  stated  that  a  number  of  the  missionaries 
now  at  Singapore,  are  waiting  for  a  passage  to  Borneo. 
Two  of  their  number,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Doty  and  Polhman, 
have  visited  this  island,  to  make  observations  as  to  the 
prospects  of  a  mission  there,  and  think  they  are  favorable. 
But  little  heretofore  has  been  known  of  the  islanders  of 
Borneo,  composed  of  Chinese,  Bujis,  and  Dyaks.  It  is  to 
the  Dyaks  the  missionaries  propose  to  give  their  particu- 
lar attention.  They  are  a  wild  and  peculiar  people  in 
some  respects,  and  appear  to  be  mild  and  hospitable  in 
others.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Polhman  gave  me  the  privilege  of 
reading  the  journal  of  the  tour  of  these  two  missionaries 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  57 

from  Sambas  to  Pontianah,  some  one  hundred  miles  in  the 
interior.  Many  of  their  customs  are  peculiar.  That  of 
cutting  off  the  heads  and  preserving  the  skulls  as  trophies 
of  personal  prowess,  is  one.  For  this  purpose  the  mem- 
bers of  the  different  tribes  make  an  annual  sally  from  their 
villages.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  principal  ornament 
of  the  establishment  of  a  Dyak  of  character  among  his 
fellows  is  a  range  of  human  skulls — the  more  numerous 
the  more  honorable  their  possessor. 

One  would  think  it  to  be  a  wild  and  rough  region  for  a 
delicate  and  beautiful  woman  to  go  to,  to  spend  her  life 
and  to  fade  away,  if  not  unknown,  yet  beyond  the  view 
of  a  civilized  world.  And  yet  some  such  have  volunta- 
rily devoted  themselves  to  the  benevolent  efforts  of  the 
self-denying  missionary  among  such  a  people  as  the  Dyaks. 
May  God  attend  them.  We  have  learned,  from  our  own 
privilege  of  association  with  them  for  the  few  past  weeks, 
to  know  and  appreciate  their  worth,  and  give  them  our 
prayers  for  their  success  and  happiness  in  the  free  dedi- 
cation of  their  lives  to  the  best  welfare  of  the  human  race. 

I  have  not  thus  long  delayed  the  mention  of  the  Ameri- 
can Consul  at  Singapore  and  his  estimable  lady,  because 
of  any  forgetfulness  of  their  generous  hospitality  and  con- 
tinued courtesies.  J.  Balistier,  Esq.,  is  at  the  head  of  the 
American  commercial  interests  here,  and,  soon  after  our 
ship  was  at  anchor,  waited  on  the  Commodore,  and  ten- 
dered to  himself  and  his  officers  the  hospitality  of  his 
house.  Commodore  Read  has  made  the  Consul's  his  home 
during  the  stay  of  our  ships  at  Singapore,  and  the  officers 
of  the  squadron  always  found  a  welcome  when  visiting 
the  family.  Mr.  B.'s  residence  is  a  spacious  and  commo- 
dious building,  pleasantly  situated  on  the  level,  and  over- 
looking the  beach,  with  a  full  prospect  of  the  expanded 
water,  and  the  hundred  junks  and  the  half  hundred  Euro- 
pean vessels  moored  at  some  distance  at  their  anchors  in 
the  stream.  Mrs.  Balistier  gave  a  party  to  the  Commo- 
dore and  his  officers,  at  which  the  Singapore  gentles  were 
present.  The  knowledge  that  dancing  would  constitute 
a  part  of  the  entertainment  induced  me  to  excuse  myself. 
Without  entering  upon  a  disquisition  as  to  the  propriety 
of  the  dance,  or  the  presence  of  clergymen  and  professors 


58  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  religion  at  the  party  where  the  dance  is  expected  to 
constitute  a  part  of  the  social  entertainment,  I  here  simply 
allude  to  the  subject,  by  way  of  accounting  to  some  of 
my  friends  for  the  course  of  my  own  action  in  such  cases. 
It  is  enough  that  I  deem  that  the  clergyman  must  always 
compromit  his  proper  dignity  by  such  an  attendance. 

The  society  of  Singapore  is  quite  small,  the  number  of 
European  ladies,  I  should  think,  not  exceeding  twenty. 
The  civilities  of  shore  were  reciprocated  by  Commodore 
Read,  by  an  entertainment  given  on  board  the  Columbia, 
some  few  days  previous  to  the  sailing  of  our  ships.  The 
quarter-deck  of  the  frigate  was  decorated  with  the  flags  of 
different  nations,  forming  a  hall,  wrhose  ends  and  sides  and 
ceiling  were  lined  with  layers  of  every-colored  bunting. 
Here,  unfolded  the  gorgeous  crown  and  gold  of  the  Span- 
iard; there,  the  emeralds  and  the  diamonds  and  the  emblem 
of  a  world's  dominion,  supporting  the  elevated  cross,  dis- 
played the  boasted  prowess  of  Portugal,  and  the  wealth  of 
the  Brazils.  There  again,  in  graceful  festoon,  dropped  the 
five  crowns  of  Bolivia  ;  and  here  glowed  the  full  sun  of  a 
neighboring  state.  Every  nation  had  its  representative 
in  curtain  or  festoon,  or  in  spread  of  wider  folds,  while  the 
royal  ensign  of  England  and  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the 
American  Republic  occupied  the  most  conspicuous  and  con- 
tiguous places,  with  their  unions  in  calm  and  complacent 
contact. 

Who  that  has  the  memories  of  an  honored  ancestry — 
who,  with  the  fresh  recollections  of  olden  and  modern  his- 
toric pages — who,  with  the  swelling  hopes  and  desires  that 
a  world  may  be  blessed  with  the  highest  attainments  in  civ- 
ilization and  the  hallowed  principles  and  consolations  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  not  pray  that  the  national 
emblems  of  these  two  nations  may  long  wave  harmonious- 
ly, wherever  they  may  display  their  folds,  on  land  or  on 
the  sea  ? 

Besides  other  articles  of  curiosity  in  the  rooms  at  the 
American  Consul's,  Mrs.  Balistier  has  a  fine  collection  of 
shells,  which  a  residence  at  this  point  has  enabled  her  to 
secure  from  most  of  the  adjacent  seas.  They  are  taste- 
fully arranged  in  a  private  cabinet.  Here,  also,  I  have 
first  met  with  the  sacred  lotus,  the  lily  of  Egypt  and  other 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  59 

classic  regions ;  and  to  Mrs.  B.  I  am  indebted  for  the  pos- 
session of  a  large  number  of  paintings,  illustrating  with 
great  minuteness  and  accuracy  the  great  variety  of  fruits 
of  the  straits.  With  Mrs.  B.,  I  am  sure  all  who  have  form- 
ed her  acquaintance  will  leave  their  kindest  wishes,  and 
take  with  them  remembrances  of  her  courtesies,  which 
will  make  the  recollection  of  them  among  their  most  ac- 
ceptable associations  with  Singapore. 

Our  ships  had  now  lingered  more  than  a  month  in  Singa- 
pore Roads.  The  monsoon  had  begun  to  weaken  its  force, 
and  the  sick  of  the  crew,  who  had  early  been  removed  to 
a  fine  airy  house,  rented  for  a  hospital  during  our  stay, 
began  to  recruit.  It  was  expected  that  the  John  Adams 
would  be  sent  up  the  gulf  of  Siarn,  while  the  Columbia 
would  prolong  her  stay  for  a  few  more  days  at  Singapore, 
and  the  two  ships  again  meet  at  Manilla.  Commodore 
Read  only  waited  for  the  more  complete  restoration  of  the 
sick  of  the  crew  of  the  John  Adams,  before  he  should  is- 
sue his  orders,  which  had  already  been  prepared,  for  her" 
departure  for  Siam. 

The  purpose  of  Commodore  Read  to  send  the  Adams  to 
Siam,  was  afterwards  changed,  in  view  of  the  state  of  the 
health  of  the  crew  of  the  John  Adams  and  the  fear  that 
additional  sickness  would  be  the  result  of  the  corvette's 
visit  to  Bankok.  But  as  it  was  the  original  design  of 
Commodore  Read  that  the  Adams  should  leave  Singa- 
pore for  Siam  ;  and  more  particularly,  because  I  desire  it 
should  be  known  what  views  and  feelings  the  commander 
of  the  East  India  squadron  cherished  in  connection  with 
the  missionaries  in  these  regions,  I  here  quote  the  instruc- 
tions that  were  made  out  for  Captain  Wyman,  though,  in 
view  of  the  reasons  already  specified,  they  were  not  for- 
warded to  him : 

"  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia,  Singapore  Roads,  March,  1839. 
«  SIR,— 

"  You  will  proceed  with  the  ship  under  your  command 
to  the  gulf  of  Siam,  and  approach  Bankok  as  near  as  you 
can  with  safety,  for  the  purpose  of  communicating  with 
the  city  of  Siam. 

"  The  object  of  your  visit  will  be  to  obtain  information 
32* 


60  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

respecting  the  state  of  our  commerce  with  that  kingdom, 
and  to  procure  all  the  intelligence  which  may  be  deemed 
useful  to  be  communicated  lor  the  benefit  of  our  govern- 
ment. It  is  also  desirable  that  the  government  of  Siam 
should  be  made  acquainted  with  the  character  of  our  naval 
force  in  these  seas,  arid  of  the  original  intention  that  the 
squadron  under  my  command  should  visit  the  dominions 
of  his  Majesty,  and  which  nothing  but  the  impossibility  of 
getting  sufficiently  near  to  Bankok  with  the  Columbia,  pre- 
vented. 

"  The  missionaries  from  the  United  States  at  present  res- 
ident in  the  kingdom  of  Siam,  are  said  of  late  to  have  re- 
ceived particular  notice,  with  marks  of  favor  from  the  king 
of  that  country,  and  from  his  half-brother.  The  mission- 
aries are  also  represented  by  impartial  accounts  from  that 
quarter  of  the  world,  as  doing  much  good — their  time  and 
their  talents  being  industriously  and  zealously  employed  in 
the  education  of  many  of  the  youth  of  the  country.  It  is 
also  believed  that  they  are  gradually  gaining  influence 
with  the  great  mass  of  the  people  ;  and  it  is  well  known 
that  a  remarkable  change  in  their  favor  has  taken  place, 
as  manifested  in  their  reception  and  the  treatment  the  mis- 
sionaries meet  with  from  the  inhabitants.  You  will  there- 
fore readily  perceive  the  propriety  of  affording  them  all 
the  countenance  in  our  power.  It  is  my  wish  that  the 
government  under  which  they  live  and  the  people  with 
whom  they  reside,  should  see  and  know  that  we  respect 
them.  You  will  communicate  freely  with  them,  and  learn 
whatever  may  be  of  interest  respecting  the  disposition  of 
that  government  towards  our  own,  together  with  any  in- 
formation that  may  be  of  service  to  ourselves.  If  any 
aid  or  assistance  which  it  may  be  in  your  power  to  give 
should  be  asked  by  the  missionaries  or  any  of  them,  I  need 
not  say  that  it  would  be  your  duty  (as  I  am  sure  it  would 
be  your  inclination)  to  afford  it  without  hesitation. 

"On  the  completion  of  your  business  at  Siam,  you  will 
proceed  to  Manilla,  and  take  on  board  at  that  port  your 
proportion,  or  one  third  of  the  stores  deposited  there  for 
the  use  of  the  squadron.  You  will  also  supply  yourself 
with  bread,  if  it  can  be  procured, lest  you  might  not  be  able 
to  obtain  this  article  of  consumption  at  Canton.  You  will 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  61 

then  proceed  to  Canton.  On  your  arrival  at  the  latter 
place,  you  will  immediately  commence  refitting,  and  put 
your  ship  in  such  a  state  and  condition  as  will  render  her 
capable  of  again  taking  the  sea,  to  reach  South  America. 
"  With  sincere  good  wishes  for  the  health  and  happi- 
ness of  yourself,  officers,  and  crew, 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

"GEORGE  C.  READ. 

"  To  Commander  T.  C.  WYMAN,  U.  S.  ship  John  Adams." 

After  tea  this  evening,  Saturday,  March  9th,  I  called 
at  Mr.  Doty's,  to  spend  an  hour  or  two  with  the  mission- 
ary families  there.  I  perceived  a  cloud  was  hanging 
over  their  circle,  and  after  a  short  time  left  them ;  when 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Orr  and  myself,  having  proceeded  a  short 
distance  on  our  return,  met  Mr.  North,  who  had  just  come 
from  the  hill,  another  part  of  the  town,  where  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ball  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wood,  with  their  families,  re- 
side. 

"  Ah,  here  is  brother  North,  now,"  said  Mr.  O.  as  we 
met,  "  you  can  give  us  all  the  news  from  the  hill, — we 
were  just  thinking  about  sending  there,  to  learn  how  Mrs. 
Wood  is." 

"  How  do  you  do,  Mr.  T.  ?"  replied  Mr.  N.,  addressing 
myself  abruptly,  "  a  note  has  just  gone  to  you,  to  ask  if 
you  will  perform  the  burial  service  over  Mrs.  Wood  to- 
morrow, at  five  o'clock.  Another  letter  has  been  sent  to 
the  Consul's,  and  one  to  Commodore  Read,  informing  them 
of  the  death  of  Mrs.  W.,  and  inviting  them  and  the  offi- 
cers of  the  squadron,  to  attend  the  funeral.  And  you,  bro- 
ther Orr,  will  conduct  the  services  at  the  house,  if  you 
can." 

It  was  like  a  thunderbolt,  this  unexpected  intelligence. 
In  the  morning  Mrs.  W.,  was  deemed  every  way  comfort- 
able ;  and  although  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  neighborhood 
had  been  sent  for  to  go  to  the  hill,  it  was  hoped  that  Mrs. 
W.  was  not  dangerously  ill.  But,  to-night,  she  is  robed 
for  her  grave-yard  sleep  of  to-morrow.  Sweet,  gentle, 
lovely,  effeminate  woman — but  lately  wedded,  and  with 
a  heart  swelling  with  benevolence  towards  millions,  thou 
earnest  to  a  foreign  land,  and  here,  so  soon,  hast  found  a 


62  A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

foreign  grave.  Sleep  gently — for  gentle  hearts  weep  for 
thee,  and  will  weep  over  thee.  Sleep  gently — for  thy 
spirit  was  a  thing  of  softness,  and  purity,  and  blushing 
modesty.  Sleep  gently — for  thou  dost  now  rest  in  Jesus ! 
And  for  thee  I  withhold  not  the  tear,  as  to  thee,  in  our 
short  acquaintance,  I  had  given,  more  than  to  most  others 
of  thy  number,  a  deep  interest  and  a  Christian's  sympathy. 

FUNERAL    OF    MRS.    WOOD. 

This  evening  of  Sunday  I  have  attended  the  funeral  of 
Mrs.  Wood,  the  companion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wood,  mis- 
sionary at  this  place. 

No  tongue  can  tell  the  sorrow  that  this  bereavement 
has  gathered  over  the  missionary  families  here.  I  had 
myself  become  deeply  interested  in  Mrs.  W.,  yet  a  young 
lady,  embracing  in  her  character  an  amiableness  which 
traced  itself  in  every  smile  on  her  countenance,  and  en- 
deared her  to  her  friends. 

The  services  commenced  at  half-past  four  o'clock.  The 
large  room  at  the  mission  house  was  filled.  A  large 
number  of  the  officers  of  both  ships,  manifested  their  sym- 
pathy by  their  attendance  ;  and  Commodore  Read  had  ex- 
pressed his  desire  that  all  the  officers  of  the  squadron 
should  attend,  whom  the  duties  of  the  ships  would  allow. 
He  himself  was  confined  to  his  room,  by  a  severe  cold. 
Captain  Wyman  of  the  Adams,  with  most  of  his  officers, 
was  present ;  Mr.  Church  the  Resident,  the  American 
Consul  and  his  lady,  and  Mrs.  White,  the  lady  of  the  En- 
glish chaplain,  and  all  the  missionaries,  together  with  a 
large  concourse  of  the  citizens. 

The  services  were  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Orr.  I 
would  it  were  in  my  power  here  to  transcribe  the  appro- 
priate address  he  made.  He  did  not  come,  he  said,  to  of- 
fer consolation  to  the  bereaved  companion — it  would  re- 
quire more  than  human  power  to  do  that.  And  yet  he 
owed  the  reciprocation  of  this  act  of  kindness  to  his  be- 
reaved brother,  who,  on  an  occasion  not  a  long  time  since, 
had  done  a  like  office  of  kindness  for  him.* 

*  At  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Orr's  child,  a  short  time  previous. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  63 

Mr.  O.  told  in  brief  the  story  of  Mrs.  Wood.  She  was 
the  daughter  of Johnston,  Esq.,  of  Morristown,  New- 
Jersey.  She  became  pious  at  the  age  of  fifteen — left  the 
endearments  of  a  refined  society,  home,  and  relatives,  for 
the  purpose  of  entering  on  the  work  of  missions  among  a 
benighted  people.  It  was  not  the  result  of  enthusiasm. 
She  thought  on  her  work,  and  dedicated  herself  consider- 
ately to  the  cause.  Arid  though  she  had  known  some  of 
the  trials  and  sorrows  attendant  on  such  action,  she  yet 
had  no  desire  to  return.  Her  purpose  remained  fixed. 

Mr.  Orr  addressed  himself,  in  sadness  and  sorrow,  to 
his  weeping  brethren  and  more  bitterly  weeping  sisters, 
from  whose  bosoms  one  of  the  dearest  of  their  number 
had  been  taken.  Death  had  been  among  them,  he  added, 
for  some  wise  purpose.  It  had  come  near  to  them  in  tak- 
ing early  one  who  had  entered  with  him  on  this  mission  ; 
and  now  God  had  approached,  in  a  voice  yet  more  thrill- 
ing, and  with  a  step  yet  more  near. 

To  the  officers  he  addressed  an  allusion  to  the  circum- 
stance, that  death  had  been  in  their  midst,  in  the  frequent 
removal  of  numbers  of  our  men,  since  our  arrival  here, 
from  both  ships. 

And  among  the  citizens,  he  continued,  but  of  late,  the 
pride  of  manhood  and  the  beauty  of  woman  have  been 
laid  low. 

The  whole  appeal  was  simple,  chaste,  feeling,  appro- 
priate. And  there  were  many  broken  hearts  there.  I 
sat  beside  the  principal  mourner.  He  wept  as  we  knelt 
side  by  side,  but  like  an  intelligent,  meek,  and  devoted 
disciple  of  Christ,  sustains  his  loss  with  a  becoming  and 
beautiful  propriety,  while  the  keen  sensibilities  of  a  heart 
of  refinement  pours  out  its  grief.  And  a  little  way  from 
me  sat  Mrs.  P.  She  wept.  She  had  come  over  with 
Mrs.  W.,  and  their  hearts  were  united,  but  death  had  now 
severed  chords  that  bound  them  in  an  endearing  affection. 
And  a  little  way  further,  sat  Mrs.  O.,  who,  like  all  the  rest 
of  this  devoted  band  of  women,  shed  the  silent  tear  as 
their  heads  bent  in  melancholy  sadness,  to  conceal  their 
flowing  grief.  It  is  beautiful  to  see  woman  weep.  But 
when  she  sheds  her  tear  under  such  circumstances  of  be- 
reavement, there  is  a  sacredness  in  the  hour — in  the  spot 


64  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

— in  the  stillness,  which  makes  the  soul  adore  the  purity 
of  the  Eternal,  and  love  and  admire  woman's  lovely  and, 
virtuous  character. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  narrate  my  own  private  sorrows. 
But  I  had  learned  to  admire  this  lovely  woman,  who,  as 
she  now  lay  reposing  in  her  marble,  surpassed  in  her  cold 
and  pale  beauty  any  chiselled  perfection  in  the  arts.  It 
was  the  poetry  of  death.  I  have  elsewhere  seen  it  on 
the  unsullied  face  of  the  infant  lying  in  its  death-sleep, 
with  a  flower  upon  its  pale  and  cold  cheek.  The  scene 
carried  me  back  to  another  and  a  bitter  hour.  And  it 
surely  was  an  easy  thing,  this  day,  to  weep. 

When  the  procession  moved  from  the  house  a  scene 
was  presented,  which  a  graphic  pen  should  describe  with- 
out the  colorings  of  the  imagination.  The  reality  was  an 
imposing  spectacle.  A  long  line  of  palanquins  and  car- 
riages were  occupied  by  the  sympathizing  attendants,  and 
along  the  side  of  this  line  of  vehicles  walked  the  young 
Chinese  scholars,  with  their  hair-braids  nearly  touching 
the  ground,  and  who,  in  the  morning,  had  stood  around  the 
corpse  of  the  departed  missionary,  and  shed  their  tears  in 
their  young  simplicity.  They  were  sad  indeed,  for  hearts 
so  young.  And  before  them  walked  the  Chinese  and 
Malay  teachers.  One  of  the  latter  had  bent  over  the  cof- 
fin of  the  dead  during  the  morning,  and  a  stream  of  silent 
sorrow  poured  from  his  eye  as  he  gazed  on  the  lovely 
corpse.  She  had  often  spoken  kindly  to  him,  as  he  had 
given  to  her  husband  lessons  in  Malay.  Mr.  W.  was 
riding  in  the  palanquin  with  myself,  and  talked  with  a  full 
heart  of  his  beloved  companion  ;  cherishing  the  many  ex- 
pressions she  had  uttered  in  her  last  and  brief  illness,  while 
unconscious  of  her  near  end,  but  grateful  for  the  favora- 
ble circumstances  attendant  on  the  birth  of  her  infant. 
And  like  a  Christian  he  cherished  the  promises  of  his  God, 
and  confided  in  their  truth  and  consolation. 

The  extended  procession  advanced  through  several  of 
the  streets,  drawing  the  gaze  of  the  Chinese,  the  Moorman, 
the  Bugis,  the  Sepoy,  and  still  other  classes  of  dark  men, 
as  the  Portuguese  bearers  advanced  with  the  dark-palled 
coffin  to  its  final  rest.  They  wound  along  the  beautiful 
bamboo-hedge  that  empales,  in  evergreen  and  soft  foliage, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  65 

this  lovely  burial-place,  and  reached  its  portal  just  as  the 
sun  was  sending  his  level  beams  over  the  plain,  and  gave 
a  mellowed  softness  and  melancholy  charm  to  the  hour, 
as  the  coffin  rested  beside  the  open  grave. 

The  crowd  gathered  from  the  carriages  to  the  spot ; 
and  the  service  was  repeated,  as  "earth  to  earth,  ashes  to 
ashes,  dust  to  dust,"  crumbled  with  its  muffled  sound  upon 
the  gilded  coffin  of  the  young  and  lovely  missionary. 

How  many  a  heart  was  bleeding  as  they  turned  from 
that  scene  !  But  the  hill-side,  where  now  the  early- 
departed  is  gently  reposing,  is  a  lovely  spot.  The  breezes 
that  sweep  up  the  acclivity  are  borne  from  a  grove  of  the 
evergreen  nutmegs,  as  if  they  would  breathe  a  spicy  breath 
for  a  spirit  so  pure,  so  lovely,  and  we  believe  now  for  ever 
happy. 

That  same  grave-yard,  to  me,  will  ever  have  a  thrilling 
interest,  not  only  as  a  lovely  spot,  where,  in  silence  and 
solitude,  I  have  trod  at  an  evening  hour,  reposing  in  its 
sweet  seclusion  but  a  short  way  from  my  lodgings  on 
shore,  but  also  for  a  hundred  strange  and  commingling 
associations,  which  memory  will  recall  in  hours  of  review. 
It  is  a  strange  pathway  we  measure  while  we  tread  our 
course  of  life,  so  different  every  successive  year  from  what 
we  early  dreamed  of,  and  perhaps  had  planned.  And 
then  its  strange  intersections  with  the  course  of  others  we 
have  known,  in  most  unexpected  circumstances,  and  time 
and  place.  Within  this  burial-ground  I  have  stood  at  the 
grave  of  a  classmate,  whom  I  knew  at  the  university,  then 
a  wild  and  popular  youth,  pursuing  the  same  books,  solv- 
ing the  same  problems,  contending  for  the  same  prizes, 
and  with  hopes,  I  doubt  not,  swelling  his  bosom  as  high  as 
any  of  his  associates.  I  saw  him  not,  as  I  now  remember, 
from  the  hour  I  gave  him  my  hand  of  parting,  on  the 
morning  succeeding  the  commencement  exercises.  But  I 
frequently  heard  of  him,  and  among  other  things,  that  he 
had  become  a  religious  man,  pursued  his  studies  of  theol- 
ogy, and  gave  himself  to  the  cause  of  missions.  He  went 
to  China,  and  from  China  purposed  a  cruise  among  the 
islands  of  these  various  seas.  He  reached  Singapore  with 
fever  already  in  his  veins,  and  after  some  days  died,  in  the 
same  dwelling  from  which  the  remains  of  the  lovely  mis- 


66  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

sionary  this  day  were  conveyed,  while  around  him  stood 
his  brethren  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  the  same 
cause.  And  he  was  borne  to  the  same  burial-place,  and 
now  lies  in  his  last  sleep,  to  swell  the  number  of  early 
martyrs  to  the  cause  of  Asiatic  missions.  "  STEVENS  !" 
How  familiar  that  name  sounds  in  the  associations  of  the 
college-hall !  How  strange,  when  pronounced  at  his  tomb 
in  this  foreign  land  ! 

And  here,  how  often  have  I  come  on  solemn  duty  since 
the  arrival  of  our  ships  at  Singapore  !  Nine  times  have  I 
read  the  burial  service,  in  a  less  number  of  weeks,  over 
so  many  of  our  crew,  who  now  lie  in  their  death  row  of 
American  sailors,  their  names  only  recorded  in  the  memory 
of  their  shipmates,  while  the  monument  to  the  last  one  of 
the  last  war's  boatswains  designates  their  graves  and  his 
own  resting-place  in  the  soil  of  the  enemy  he  had  met. 

And  here  too,  at  early  sunrise,  while  the  dew  was  yet 
bespangling  the  green  spires  which  carpet  the  hill-side  of 
this  sweet  spot,  I  have  come  to  say  the  burial  service  over 
the  stranger  to  myself  in  the  place  of  the  English  chaplain, 
when  himself  too  ill  to  officiate.  The  custom  here  is  to 
avoid  the  noonday  sun,  and  at  early  morn  or  evening  to 
inter  the  dead. 

This  burial-ground  occupies  the  western  side  of  the 
government  hill.  A  small  chapel  (usual  in  English  burial- 
places  for  the  temporary  rest  of  the  body,  when  the  ser- 
vice is  to  be  in  full  performed)  occupies  one  of  the  corners. 
The  lofty  banian  tree  raises  its  high  stem  in  grandeur  and 
grace  far  in  the  air ;  and  below  the  grounds  on  the  same 
acclivity,  spreads  forth  to  the  view,  in  their  luxuriant  and 
perpetual  green,  a  grove  of  nutmeg  trees,  between  which 
and  the  rural  grave-yard,  wrinds  the  avenue  up  the  hill- 
side to  the  dwellings  of  the  Governor.  The  stranger's  eye 
loves  to  linger  on  this  spot  as  it  greets  his  view  from  many 
parts  of  his  rides  and  walks  through  the  town.  "  To  be 
placed  in  a  spot  so  lovely,  to  me  would  yield  some  conso- 
lation," I  remarked  once,  "were  I  to  die  in  Singapore. 
My  friends  at  least  would  have  one  bitter  drained  from 
their  cup  of  sorrow  could  they  know  how  peaceful  was 
the  rural  ground  where  I  rested." 

"  Not  so  did  Mrs.  W.  seem  to  view  this  beautifully  situ- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  67 

ated  burial-place,"  Mr.  Wood  replied,  as  we  were  ap- 
proaching near  it,  on  the  eve  of  her  burial.  "  She  seemed 
to  have  a  presentiment  that  her  remains  would  lie  there ; 
and  one  evening,  when  I  was  about  to  drive  along  this 
path,"  he  continued,  "  she  begged  I  would  take  another 
road.  And  in  view  of  the  possibility  that  she  soon  might 
die,  hoped  that  I  would  be  prepared  for  the  separation." 

How  mysterious  are  the  visions  that  sometimes  pass 
over  the  mind,  and  leave  upon  the  spirit  the  felt  shades  of 
their  dark- winged  flight ! 

EPISCOPAL    CHURCH    AT    SINGAPORE. 

The  Episcopal  •  church  at  Singapore  is  a  new  edifice, 
consecrated  within  the  last  twelvemonth  by  bishop  Wilson, 
of  Calcutta,  within  whose  diocese  the  island  is  included. 
The  building  has  a  commanding  location,  although  situa- 
ted on  the  plain,  and  occupies  a  spacious  area,  around 
which  a  hedge  of  young  bamboo  has  been  planted,  which 
will  make  a  beautiful  empalement  for  the  extended  grounds. 
The  church  is  a  conspicuous  building  as  seen  from  the 
shipping  of  the  harbor.  The  style  corresponds  with  the 
necessities  of  the  climate,  the  main  building  being  entirely 
surrounded  by  a  verandah  with  heavy  arched  buttresses, 
beneath  which  the  carriages  drive  to  the  entrances  of  the 
building,  affording  protection  to  one  as  he  alights,  both 
from  rain  and  sun.  These  buttresses  give  a  heavy  and 
massive  appearance  to  the  otherwise  Corinthian  air  of 
lightness  of  the  central  part  of  the  edifice ;  and  the  stran- 
ger who  has  contemplated  it  en  masse,  is  surprised,  on  his 
entrance,  to  find  it  not  more  spacious  within.  It  is  amply 
large,  however,  for  the  usual  congregation,  and  would 
accommodate  a  larger  one  than  will  probably  fill  its  seats 
for  years  to  come.  It  is  finished  inside  with  the  red 
wood  of  these  regions,  a  good  deal  resembling  mahogany, 
though  a  greatly  inferior  and  coarser  wood.  When  the 
ground  shall  be  properly  arranged  and  planted,  as  it 
should  be,  with  trees,  and  the  edifice  completed  as  to 
many  little  arrangements  still  contemplated,  the  spot  will 
be  a  lovely  one,  and  the  temple  a  sweet  and  beautiful  re- 
treat for  the  worship  of  God. 

33 


68  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

I  preached  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  White  on  two  occasions, 
during  the  stay  of  our  ships  at  Singapore.  Mr.  W.  read 
the  prayers.  I  should  deem  it,  however,  no  way  impro- 
per for  an  American  Episcopal  clergyman,  did  the  occa- 
sion require  it,  to  perform  the  English  church  service 
before  an  English  congregation.  It  might  seem  a  little 
peculiar  for  the  citizen  of  a  republic  praying  for  the 
successful  reign  of  "  our  most  gracious  sovereign  lord, 
King  William,"  or  "  Victoria,  our  most  gracious  Queen 
and  Governor."  And  yet  the  clergyman  in  this  case  is 
but  the  leader  of  the  prayers  of  the  congregation.  I  must 
confess,  however,  in  my  own  case,  I  should  in  one  or  two 
instances  prefer  to  change  the  pronoun  our  for  the  article 
the ;  and,  by  the  merest  lapsus  linguae  -in  the  world,  the 
substitution  might  be  made  without  materially  interfering 
with  the  rubrics  or  propriety,  perhaps  without  attracting 
notice. 

I  have  been  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  English 
clergymen  in  most  of  the  places  at  which  we  have  visited, 
and  invariably  found  them  gentlemen  of  interest  and  edu- 
cation. And  they  have  ever  given  evidence  that  they 
regarded  the  Episcopal  church  of  the  United  States  with 
great  partiality  and  kindness.  They  look  upon  her,  as 
she  feels  herself  truly  to  be,  a  child  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  indeed,  there  is  no  difference  that  makes  them 
otherwise  two  churches  than  their  different  localities  and 
dates  of  origin.  Our  bishops  have  been  given  us  by  their 
own  church ;  our  Prayer  Book  altered  from  their  own, 
only  to  accommodate  it  to  a  different  form  of  government, 
and  by  the  substitution  and  the  omission  of  some  few 
words  and  brief  sentences,  which  have  the  approbation 
of  themselves ; — and  this  church  was  planted,  too,  by  the 
prayers,  and  solicitudes,  and  money  of  a  common  ances- 
try. It  is  right,  then,  that  we  should  cherish  kindred 
sympathies  for  the  prosperity  of  each.  And  such  is  the 
feeling  of  the  church  in  the  United  States ;  and  such  I 
know  to  be  the  feelings  among  the  members  of  the  church 
of  England :  and  each  at  once  feels  himself  at  home, 
when  worshipping  in  the  temples  of  the  other.  It  is  there- 
fore to  be  regretted,  that  in  England  there  should  exist  any 
circumstances  which  prevent  the  English  clergy  from  ex- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  69 

tending  to  their  American  Episcopal  brethren  of  the  minis- 
try the  courtesies  of  their  pulpits,  when  they  visit  Eng- 
land. This  has  been  the  case,  though  it  results,  I  believe, 
from  some  civil  disqualification — each  clergyman  being 
required  by  law  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  previous  to 
his  introduction  to  the  pulpit  of  the  English  church.  But 
a  little  consideration,  and  the  exertion  of  no  more  than 
the  influence  which  the  English  clergy  possess,  could  re- 
move the  obstacle  that  prevents  them  from  reciprocating 
the  courtesies  which  are  always  and  at  once  tendered  to 
the  English  clergyman  on  his  visiting  the  United  States. 
If,  however,  the  British  clergy  at  home  continue  to  adhere 
to  their  olden  regulation  on  this  subject,  the  American 
clergyman  will  be  quite  contented  in  the  self-complacency 
of  his  own  greater  propriety  and  politeness.* 

Dr.  Wilson,  Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  was  in  Singapore 
some  few  months  since,  at  the  consecration  of  the  church 
edifice  here.  Bishop  W.'s  name  is  well  known  in  Amer- 
ica, and  has  been  highly  commended,  particularly  and 
most  justly  in  connection  with  his  book  on  the  Evidences 
of  the  Christian  Religion.  It  was  a  pleasure  I  had  hoped 
for,  to  meet  one  whose  writings  had  given  me  pleasure, 
and  whose  character  I  had  learned  to  appreciate  as  a 
Christian  and  a  scholar.  I  could  have  narrated  one  or 
two  instances  where  his  work  on  the  Evidences  of  the 
Christian  Religion  has  convinced  the  understanding  of  the 
skeptical,  and  guided  the  enkindled  feelings  of  the  same 
persons  to  the  embracing  of  the  hopes  and  the  profession 
of  Christianity. 

I  made  my  last  visit  at  the  Rev.  M.  Orr's  this  evening, 
the  20th,  dined,  and  afterwards  took  a  pleasant  ride  along 
the  beach,  with  Mrs.  Orr ;  and  through  the  Chinese  vil- 
lage where  Mr,  and  Mrs.  O.  will  probably  be  located  in 
their  endeavors  to  benefit  the  Chinese,  by  their  Christian 
labors  for  their  welfare.  At  tea,  we  were  joined  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Wood.  The  subject  of  the  resurrection  of  the 

*  Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  there  has 
been  a  change  in  the  ecclesiastical  regulations  of  the  English  church 
on  the  subject  alluded  to  ;  and  an  interesting  instance  of  the  cour- 
tesy of  the  Mother  Church  to  the  American  has  been  exhibited  in 
the  case  of  the  late  visit  of  Bishop  Doane  to  England. 


70  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

dead,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  renewal  of  the 
acquaintances  of  the  Christian  dead  were  among  the 
topics  of  conversation. 

Admitting  that  our  spirits  shall  remain  the  precise 
beings  that  they  now  are,  as  to  personal  identity,  which  it 
would  seem  must  necessarily  be  true,  and  which  we  can- 
not conceive  of  without  the  preservation  of  our  memory 
and  the  other  faculties  of  the  mind,  it  would  seem  that 
some  definite  and  probable  inferences  may  be  drawn  in 
connection  with  the  future  state. 

As  to  our  bodies,  although  there  may  be  some  connec- 
tion between  our  present  and  our  spiritual  body,  yet  we 
know  that  "  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God."  And  I  cannot  conceive  of  a  spirit  divested  of  ma- 
teriality, as  possessing  figure  or  weight  any  more  than  I 
can  conceive  of  a  heavy,  thick,  oblong,  triangular  or  rec- 
tangular thought.  Nor  can  I  conceive  of  it  as  occupying 
space,  any  more  than  does  a  thought ;  and  no  one's  head 
was  ever  so  rilled  with  them  as  to  produce  any  mechanical 
dismemberment.  Besides,  it  is  said  that  our  bodies  are 
changing  their  particles  every  succession  of  a  few  years. 
We  know  this  from  our  daily  observation  as  to  our  nails, 
hair,  etc.,  and  therefore  the  particles  of  our  body  to-day 
are  different  from  what  they  will  be  to-morrow.  Our 
bodies,  in  fine,  are  composed  of  just  what  we  eat,  and 
therefore  are  the  same  particles  which  have  composed 
the  bodies  of  the  animals  and  vegetables  we  have  eaten. 
And  when  these  particles  are  analyzed  it  is  found  that  the 
muscles  of  the  ox  and  the  man,  and  the  vegetable  matter 
which  has  been  eaten,  are  composed  of  the  same  sub- 
stances. And  when  these  bodies  go  to  decay,  the  conso- 
lidated gases  which  compose  the  particles  of  which  our 
bodies  are  constituted,  resolve  themselves  back  to  their 
simple  elementary  elements  of  oxygen,  nitrogen,  hydrogen, 
phosphorus,  and  their  few  particles  of  the  earths ;  and 
while  the  latter  mingle  with  their  kindred  dust,  the  gases 
composing  the  greater  part  of  the  body,  decomposed  to 
their  simple  elements,  rise  from  their  deposite  of  the  grave 
or  are  dissipated  from  the  funeral  pyre  to  the  gale ;  and 
in  the  whirlwind  and  the  storm,  may  be,  are  borne  from 
the  spice  groves  and  evergreens  of  the  East  to  another 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  71 

continent  in  the  West,  or  are  soon  re-drank  by  the  vege- 
table creation,  which,  in  their  turn,  are  re-consumed  by 
beast  and  man,  and  become  the  bodies  of  others  in  their 
day  and  generation.  Thus  it  becomes  neither  poetry  nor 
comedy,  but  a  philosophical  truth,  that  the  bodies  of  our 
grandfathers  may  be  gazing  upon  us  from  the  tops  of  the 
trees  that  embower  us,  or  resting  in  the  cup  of  the  beau- 
tiful lotus  as  it  sleeps  on  the  still  bosom  of  the  lake,  or  is 
just  on  the  point  of  being  devoured  by  a  buffalo  in  the 
shape  of  a  potato,  in  its  turn  to  be  eaten  by  a  Rajah,  and 
for  a  time  to  become  a  particle  of  his  Malayship;  or,  in  the 
scattered  divisions  of  the  elements,  perhaps  another  parti- 
cle has  been  consumed  in  a  glass  of  claret,  and  in  its  com- 
binations in  the  system,  has  become  the  iris  of  the  eye  of 
the  proudest  princess  of  Christendom.  Thus  in  these 
perpetual  changes  of  nature,  our  bodies  may  be  composed 
of  the  particles  which  have  entered  into  the  compound 
of  millions  of  others ;  and  perhaps  no  one  of  them,  in  fact, 
belong  exclusively  to  ourselves.  What  then  is  the  result 
of  these  developments  of  science?  It  is  the  confirmation 
of  the  sentiment  of  the  apostle,  that  our  bodies  shall  be 
"spiritual"  bodies,  and  that  "flesh  and  blood  cannot  inher- 
it the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

But  of  a  spiritual  body,  as  I  have  before  hinted,  I  can- 
not conceive  of  weight,  thickness,  or  breadth,  and  without 
these  I  am  unable  to  conceive  of  form,  any  more  than  I 
can  conceive  of  a  thought  as  possessing  shape.  The  dif- 
ficulty here,  then,  which  would  present  itself  to  most  minds, 
would  be,  "How  shall  we  recognise  our  friends  in  another 
world,  unless  we  can  see  them  ?  And  how  can  we  see 
them  unless  they  have  a  form  ?  And  how  remember  them 
unless  this  form  be  a  resemblance  of  their  persons  as  we 
have  seen  them  on  earth  ? 

But,  in  the  first  place,  I  would  reply,  that  we  cannot 
now  see  a  spirit ;  and  unless  matter  shall  be  in  existence 
when  all  matter  shall  have  passed  away,  then  we  shall 
have  certainly  no  physical  eye  to  look  from.  But,  how 
would  the  idea  of  the  objector  improve  the  matter  ? 
Would  he  remember  his  friend  as  he  knew  him  in  his  in- 
fancy, or  youth,  or  riper  years,  or  as  a  gray-headed  man? 
How  should  the  mother  recall  to  her  vision  the  little 


72  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

cherub  of  her  affection,  which  went  from  her  bosom  almost 
as  soon  as  it  was  born,  to  the  arms  of  Him  who  said, "  Suf- 
fer little  children  to  come  unto  me  ?"  How  should  the 
child  recall  the  mother  who  left  it  in  its  cradle,  as  she  went 
from  earth  to  the  peace  and  purity  and  bliss  of  heaven  ? 
Or  how  should  the  resemblance  be  fixed  for  the  rotundity 
and  health  of  the  young  and  blushing  cheek,  or  for  the 
thinner  visage  though  not  always  less  interesting  lily  fea- 
tures of  the  young  consumptive  ? 

But  if  these  difficulties  arise  on  the  supposition,  agree- 
ably to  a  prevalent  idea  that  our  spiritual  bodies  are  posi- 
tive resemblances  of  our  temporal ;  the  apparent  impos- 
sibility of  recognition,  as  it  will  appear  to  some  minds, 
without  this  external  resemblance,  tends,  they  think,  to 
destroy  that  delightful  anticipation  of  a  reunion  and  asso- 
ciation with  our  friends  in  heaven.  But  to  me  this  is  far 
from  being  the  necessary  alternative,  granting  that  the 
difficulties  as  above  stated  in  a  philosophical  view,  are 
real.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  the  bodies  of  our  friends 
that  we  love.  The  person  of  our  dearest  friend,  in  com- 
parison with  many  others,  may  be  very  ordinary  in  exter- 
nal appearance.  The  form  too,  changes,  and  though  once 
interesting  may  cease  to  be  so.  But  it  is  the  mind — the 
soul — the  spirit  that  we  love  ;  and  it  is  that  which  lights 
up  this  body  ;  and  in  our  present  mode  of  communication, 
gives  forth,  through  the  eye  and  the  lip  and  the  counte- 
nance, the  real  expression  of  that  otherwise  concealed 
being  of  our  friend.  It  is  the  thing  which  loves  us,  that 
we  love ;  and  which  lives  when  the  body  crumbles  to  its 
original  elements.  It  is  that  part  of  our  friend  that  weeps ; 
that  is  happy  ;  that  has  made  us  weep,  and  has  made  us 
happy.  It  is  the  soul  which  has  given  us  its  thoughts — 
the  lights  and  shades  of  its  character — and  felt  when  we 
felt,  and  smiled  when  we  smiled,  and  was  happy  when 
we  were  happy ;  and  would  live  and  would  die  for  us. 
It  is  this,  to  which  our  own  spirits  are  bound.  And  give 
me  the  power  to  commune  with  THIS  through  eternity,  and 
to  love  this,  and  to  be  happy  with  this  through  eternal 
years,  and  the  body  and  its  resemblances  may  go  to  their 
dust,  and  pass  with  the  material  world  at  the  end  of  time 
to  their  original  chaos.  It  is  the  indestructible  part  of  my 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  73 

friend — the  memory,  the  imaginative,  the  perceptive,  con- 
ceptive,  and  reasoning  powers  and  passions  of  the  soul — 
to  which  I  wish  to  be  united.  And  will  it  be  difficult  to 
find  such,  in  the  world  of  blessedness,  where,  on  the  sup- 
position that  the  essence  of  the  soul  and  personal  indentity 
remain,  we  shall  still  be  social  and  intellectual  beings  ; 
and  as  a  consequence,  commune  with  each  other?  A 
single  idea  conveyed  to  or  from  our  friend,  would  call  up 
all  the  memories  of  another  world,  and  the  recognition  be 
of  that  which  we  have  loved,  and  ourselves  again  be  uni- 
ted in  sentiment  and  affection  with  the  social,  the  intellec- 
tual, the  loving  spirit  of  our  friend.  It  may  be  ideas  then, 
rather  than  resemblances  of  form,  that  shall  produce  our 
recognition,  as  is  often  the  case  in  this  world.  How  often 
have  the  features  of  our  friend  so  changed  in  his  absence 
that  we  trace  not,  on  the  re-greeting,  any  resemblance  of 
him  to  whom  we  gave  the  hand  for  a  long  separation ! 
But  a  single  word,  a  single  idea,  causes  the  heart  to  leap 
with  the  joys  of  memory,  that  tell  us  we  are  again  with 
the  unchanged  and  unforgetting  spirit  of  one  we  loved 
and  yet  love. 

But  this  is  already  too  long  a  nota  bene  of  a  few  thoughts 
which  were  passing  between  us  at  Mr.  O.'s,  on  the  eve 
of  my  last  visit,  and  for  which  I  hold  neither  of  those  gen- 
tlemen responsible,  but  as  rather  constituting  my  own 
passing  reflections  at  the  moment.  It  was  an  agreeable 
hour  of  an  interchange  of  thoughts  with  these  intelligent 
friends,  and  a  happy  moment  of  communion,  as  all  contem- 
plated the  certainty  that  the  soul  should  be  supremely 
blessed  in  that  state  of  being,  whither  the  Christian  is  rap- 
idly tending,  and  where  some  of  our  dearest  friends,  but 
lately,  were  gone. 

And,  indeed,  it  is  a  blessed  field  of  enjoyment,  which 
opens  before  the  redeemed  one,  as  a  social,  intellectual,  and 
immortal  spirit,  retaining  the  susceptibilities  of  his  spiritual 
nature,  which  shall  be  gratified  in  the  society  of  heaven. 
There  he  shall  meet  those,  from  every  age,  to  narrate  the 
incidents  of  the  past,  in  the  providence  of  God,  relating  to 
the  history  of  the  world,  and  with  millions  of  yet  unborn 
spirits ;  who,  again,  shall  tell  of  that  which  shall  come 
after  his  own  passage  from  the  earth.  And  I  could  not 


74  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

but  add  to  my  friends,  (whom  it  was  not  probable  I  should 
meet  again  after  this  evening's  parting,)  that,  "if  hereafter 
we  shall  meet  in  heaven,  I  think  I  shall  there  and  then  like 
to  know  of  you  what  was  your  wo  and  your  joy,  while 
you  lengthened  out  your  day  of  earth  here,  in  your  mis- 
sions of  the  East." 

We  knelt,  as  usual,  before  we  separated,  in  prayer, 
after  a  chapter  had  been  read  and  a  hymn  sung.  I  shall 
long  remember  the  sweet  voice  of  Mrs.  O.  We  wrung 
each  other's  hands  and  parted. 

RIDE    TO    BOOKITIMA. 

The  time  was  now  arrived  when  the  ships  were  ordered 
to  be  in  readiness  for  sea.  Word  had  been  passed  that 
the  succeeding  Wednesday  would  be  the  day  of  sailing 
for  our  ships.  All  officers  were  to  be  on  board,  Tuesday 
evening,  and  no  boat  or  officer  afterwards  to  leave  the 
frigate.  Yet  a  few  days  would  intervene.  One,  therefore, 
I  devoted  to  a  ride  to  Bookitima,  said  to  be  the  highest 
ground  on  the  island  of  Singapore,  and  distant  some  six 
or  seven  miles  from  the  town.  I  had  already  ridden  to 
most  of  the  plantations  in  the  neighborhood,  marking  the 
growth  of  pepper,  gambir,  coffee,  cloves,  and  nutmegs.  A 
fine  smooth  road  has  been  cut  quite  to  the  top  of  Booki- 
tima ;  and  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  walking  up  any  part 
of  the  hill-steep  in  the  sun,  I  procured  an  additional  horse 
to  serve  me  in  case  the  first  I  drove  should  give  out.  The 
road  lies  along  the  level  through  the  plantations  in  the  low 
grounds  for  a  few  miles,  until  you  reach  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ascent,  formerly  not  attempted  by  horses,  but 
since  the  road  alluded  to  has  been  constructed,  and  but 
lately  finished  by  the  government's  convicts,  it  is  practi- 
cable to  ascend  to  the  hill-top,  provided  you  have  a  horse 
that  is  good  for  aught  but  being  led  by  a  half-robed  syce 
over  a  level  surface.  No  sooner  had  we  reached  the 
commencement  of  the  ascent,  before  the  horse  protested 
against  any  change  of  olden  customs  and  all  new  innova- 
tions. Stay  he  would,  any  how,  as  usual,  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill. 

"  Put  in  the  other  horse,  syce,"  I  said  to  the  driver,  as 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  75 

the  palanquin  door  was  opened,  and  Mrs.  D.  and  myself 
commenced  our  walk  over  the  smooth  path,  as  an  accept- 
able change,  minus  the  sun  that  penetrated  too  easily  the 
silk  of  a  dark  umbrella.  Mr.  D.  joined  us,  and  sent  on 
his  carriage  with  his  little  charge,  up  the  acclivity. 

The  dubash  dismounted  the  extra  steed,  and  the  two 
dark  skins  commenced  the  dismantling  of  the  palanquin 
animal  and  substituting  the  "  prime"  riding  horse.  We 
had  wound  up  the  spiral  road  into  the  grateful  shade,  which 
the  tall  and  thick  growth  of  the  hill-side  threw  upon  the 
embowered  path  ;  and  ere  long  the  dubash  came  on,  sans 
horse,  sans  palanquin,  sans  saddle-horse.  This  prime  horse, 
which  we  had  taken  with  us  as  our  forlorn  hope,  for  va- 
rious reasons  unlearned,  imitated  the  said  other  obstinate 
animal,  and  alike  declared  in  actions,  which  speak  louder 
than  words,  that  he  was  an  humble  imitator,  and  not  a  set- 
ter of  fashions ;  and  if  his  kindred  flesh  did  not  choose  to 
advance,  he  had  not  the  presumption  by  any  course  of  his 
to  lead  to  any  reflections  upon  his  associate.  To  settle 
the  controversy  between  bay  horse  and  brown  Malay, 
the  forlorn  hope  deliberately  backed  the  palanquin,  from 
its  little  advance,  down  to  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

"  Well,  Krishna,  why  did  you  not  ride  up  the  saddle- 
horse,  if  you  could  get  neither  on  with  the  palanquin  ?" 

"  Master, — horse  no  come,  any  how." 

"  Can't  believe  that,  Krishna." 

"  Master, — he  no  come,  any  how." 

The  dubash  continued  to  protest  with  additional  em- 
phasis, but  the  secret  afterwards  developed  itself,  that  the 
horse  would  not  let  the  said  Krishna  re-mount  him  after 
he  had  been  so  insulted  as  to  be  put  into  the  palanquin- 
shafts  as  a  draw-horse. 

Preferring  to  walk  leisurely,  by  the  way  of  perusing 
some  manuscripts  which  had  been  brought  for  pleasure 
and  amusement,  we  sauntered  up  the  hill,  passing  the  little 
streamlet  that  gushes,  in  refreshing  and  pure  ripples,  from 
a  riven  rock,  leading  back  the  association  to  the  prophetic 
Moses  and  a  thirsting  people,  who  then,  as  others  in  later 
times,  were  slow  in  their  confidence  in  the  Creator  of 
bountiful  and  beautiful  nature. 

We  ere  long  reached  the  top  of  Bookitima.     Before  us 


76  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

now  lay  field,  forest,  plantation,  and  the  outlines  of  the 
whole  island  of  Singapore,  the  distant  water,  like  narrow 
lakes,  meeting  the  eye  on  every  side  but  one,  designating 
the  extent  of  the  island.  But  a  single  view  was  enough. 
The  prospect  has  nothing  to  attract  with  interest,  as  the 
view  extends  into  the  blue  distance,  to  one  who  has  gazed 
on  richer  landscapes,  and  mountain-scenery,  and  ocean 
stretching  from  the  foot  of  the  lofty  mountain-side  for 
leagues  in  the  distance  to  sea.  It  is,  however,  a  pleasant 
ride,  when  pleasant  friends  accompany  you,  like  sweet 
solitude,  when  at  your  side  you  have  a  friend  to  whom 
you  may  whisper,  how  sweet  is  solitude,  as  some  French- 
man has  hinted,  who  was  no  less  correct  in  his  remark 
than  another  of  his  penetrating  species,  who  defines  grati- 
tude to  be  a  keen  zest  for  favors  that  are  to  come. 

As  soon  as  a  comfortable  shade  had  been  found,  (the 
English  have  committed  sacrilege  here,  in  cutting  down 
almost  all  the  magnificent  trees  which  but  lately  stood  upon 
this  elevated  point,  as  if  vistas  could  not  have  been  much 
better  opened  to  exhibit  the  distant  prospect,)  Krishna 
made  an  acceptable  display  of  his  fine  pine-apples  and 
other  fruits,  et  cetera,  arid  liquids,  which  the  providence 
of  my  friends  had  provided,  and  which  our  ride  had  made 
no  less  agreeable  to  the  taste  than  acceptable  to  the  eye. 

The  horses  having  been  detached  from  the  carriages, 
the  shafts  of  Mr.  D.'s  gig  had  been  elevated  to  a  horizon- 
tal line,  and  poised  upon  one  of  the  stumps  which  some  of 
the  haters  of  nature's  most  tasteful  arrangements  had  caused 
to  occupy  the  place,  divested  of  its  legitimate  stem  and 
foliage.  I  had  placed  myself  in  the  gig  beside  Mrs.  D.  and 
her  little  girl,  as  affording  to  the  party  a  comfortable  seat 
during  our  delay,  without  thinking  of  centres  of  gravity, 
or  lines  of  direction  falling  without  their  base,  or  of  acci- 
dents occurring  to  all  kinds  of  vehicles  when  this  is  the 
case — nor  was  I  at  all  mindful  that  the  gig  wras  occupying 
a  point  whence  a  rapid  declivity  commenced  its  inclined 
plane.  And  having  thus  long  forgotten  all  about  wheel 
and  axle  and  shaft,  in  an  acceptable  tete-a-tete,  suddenly, 
by  some  slight  change  of  position  in  the  occupants  of  the 
gig,  or  other  cause,  (of  no  consequence  here,  as  the  inci- 
dent is  the  remembered  thing,)  the  shafts  of  the  gig  were 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  77 

seen  to  be  assuming  a  direction  as  if  they  were  about  to 
take  the  altitude  of  the  sun,  and  the  wheels  seemed  in 
thoughtful  intent  of  moving  down  the  declivity ;  but  by 
some  good  fortune  the  three  occupants  were  gently  let 
down  to  the  ground,  to  the  discomfiture  of  nothing  else 
than  the  calash-top  of  the  gig,  which  will  afford  the  imi- 
tative Chinese  a  further  opportunity  of  exercising  their 
genius  in  patch-work. 

I  believe  few  persons,  when  uninjured  and  safely  out  of 
a  danger,  if  they  have  shared  it  with  agreeable  friends, 
regret  the  occurrence,  which  rather  adds  another  agree- 
able coil  to  the  memory,  which,  in  the  future,  shall  unroll 
its  trail  of  agreeable  recollections. 

The  bays  and  the  Malays  having  sufficiently  fed  them- 
selves and  rested,  we  were  again  on  our  return-way  to  town, 
preferring  to  descend  the  hill  on  foot.  Having  re-entered 
our  carriages,  in  a  short  time  we  completed  our  way  back  ; 
and  finishing  the  last  manuscript,  as  my  friend  will  remem- 
ber, in  the  early  part  of  the  drive,  we  reached  the  house 
of  Mr.  D.  in  time  for  an  early  dinner. 

It  is  a  pleasant  ride,  I  repeat — that  drive  to  Bookitima, 
if  pleasant  friends  accompany  you. 

I  was  early  at  my  room  in  the  evening ;  and  though 
alone,  yet  not  in  solitude  did  I  spend  the  bonne  heure  soli- 
taire. 

LEAVE-TAKING. 

It  matters  not  how  long  one  may  have  lingered  on  his 
cruise  at  any  particular  place,  where  he  has  met  with  va- 
rious interesting  things,  and  yet  more  interesting  friends — 
the  last  twenty-four  hours  of  his  stay  will  always  find  him 
with  many  things  to  be  done,  and  not  a  few  things  to  be 
said.  He  must  make  his  last  calls,  or  despatch  notes  of 
adieu  ;  and  he  must  gather  the  curiosities  which  have  been 
accumulating  on  his  hands,  and  arrange  a  thousand  things, 
which  before  could  not  be  arranged,  and  have  conveyed 
to  the  ship  his  chattels,  cherished  mementoes,  and  by  some 
last  act  of  courtesy,  reciprocate  the  choice  favors  of  his 
friends. 

I  could  not,  with  horse  and  palanquin,  go  the  round  of 
all  my  acquaintances,  to  whom  I  had  been  glad  verbally 


78  A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

to  say,  how  truly  they  would  be  recalled  in  my  future 
memories  of  Singapore ;  but  all  other  things  being  ad- 
justed, so  that  I  should  find  myself  in  readiness  for  the 
frigate's  sailing,  on  reaching  the  ship  to-night,  I  started  to 
take  the  rounds  of  several  families,  among  the  number  of 
those  whose  acquaintance  I  had  formed,  and  whose  friend- 
ship I  would  hope  to  retain.  At  such  an  hour  I  would  not 
wish  to  feel  otherwise  than  sadly,  whether  the  feeling  be 
expressed  or  not,  as  evincing  most  truly  that  I  have  been 
happy  in  the  society  of  those  with  whom  I  am  soon  to  part. 
What  care  we,  though  we  leave  forever  those  whose  hearts 
have  never  moved  more  quickly  when  ours  have  warmed 
— with  whom  we  have  exchanged  nought  of  the  confidence 
of  friendship — in  whose  association  no  sudden  burst  of 
sentiment,  no  new  train  of  thought,  no  impromptu  extrav- 
agance of  word,  in  humorous  or  in  grave  remark,  have 
been  awakened  ?  We  feel  that  no  chain  of  sympathy  has 
connected  our  hearts,  with  its  golden  links,  to  theirs.  But 
it  is  with  those  who  have  been  sad  when  we  were  sad — 
have  laughed  when  we  have  laughed — were  devout  when 
we  have  been  devout,  and  could  appreciate,  and  under- 
stand, and  excuse  your  own  mode  of  thinking  and  speak- 
ing and  acting,  and  pardon  you  when  you  did  not  think,  or 
speak,  or  act — it  is  with  such  you  have  irrevocably  blend- 
ed your  thoughts,  your  interests,  your  feelings  ;  and  when 
you  go  to  their  homes,  to  say  adieu,  probably  for  all  com- 
ing time,  a  sigh  escapes  you  as  you  approach  their  dwell- 
ing; and  you  smile  perhaps  in  their  presence,  and  say  cheer- 
ful things,  but  the  heart  weeps  if  the  eye  be  not  melted,  as 
you  take  the  long  farewell,  no  more  to  return  to  the  inter- 
view, which  has  so  often  been  the  source  of  your  augment- 
ed happiness. 

"  It  is  but  a  material  separation  which  takes  place  be- 
tween friends,  when  they  part.  Their  souls  are  as  certainly 
united  as  when  their  bodies  are  in  each  other's  presence. 
Let  us  regard  the  spirit  then  as  our  friend,  and  the  body  only 
as  its  temporary  residence — as  we  have  learned  to  think 
of  the  Spirit  that  has  made  us.  Then,  separation  is  noth- 
ing, and  death  itself  only  to  be  regarded  as  a  passage-boat, 
to  convey  us,  not  only  to  our  God,  but  to  our  friends,  no 
more  to  part." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  79 

This  sentiment  was  uttered  by  one  on  whom  I  called 
to-day,  March  27th,  to  say  farewell,  and  whom  I  shall 
cherish  as  a  friend  that  will  not  forget,  nor  will  be  forgot- 
ten. It  was  worthy  of  the  mind  that  conceived  it,  and  the 
heart  that  felt  it.  And  he  who  has  but  a  slight  power  over 
the  trains  of  his  own  association,  to  concentrate  his  thoughts 
on  those  subjects  which  please  him  most,  and  has  been  in 
the  habit  of  marking  the  light  and  the  shade  in  the  thoughts 
and  the  feelings  of  the  friend  for  whom  he  has  formed  an 
attachment,  will  feel  that  there  is  truth  most  certain  and 
welcome  in  the  sentiment  expressed.  It  is  the  thoughts, 
the  kindlings  of  emotion,  the  remark  that  discovered  the 
play  of  the  mind,  the  feeling  of  the  soul,  the  character  and 
the  combined  worth  of  the  spirit  with  which  we  have  been 
delighted,  that  we  cherish  in  the  review ;  and  these  men- 
tal perceptions  associated  with  our  friends,  are  indestruc- 
tible and  inseparable  in  our  own  minds,  recurring  ever  as 
agreeable  memories  ;  and  the  pleasurable  emotions  they 
awake  are  invariable  consequents  of  the  welcome  recol- 
lections. Then  is  it  true,  that  the  spirits  of  friends,  in  the 
commingling  of  the  memories  of  the  past,  know,  that  while 
many  leagues  of  ocean  and  land  may  forbid  their  bodily 
presence,  their  spirits  may  be  ever  and  indivisibly  united. 

Having  made  the  calls  I  had  proposed  to  myself,  I  drove 
through  the  grove  of  nutmegs  to  the  beautiful  burial -ground 
— not,  certainly,  there  to  inter  forever  the  recollections 
which  I  had  treasured  up  in  my  associations  with  friends 
at  Singapore,  but  as  a  fit  place  at  the  sweet  hour  of  even- 
ing, to  pause  for  a  half  hour,  in  a  leisure  and  solitary  prom- 
enade through  the  grounds  of  this  rural  spot.  I  stayed  my 
step  at  the  grave  of  Stevens,  and  for  a  moment,  carried 
back  my  thoughts  to  days  and  scenes  spent  in  another  hem- 
isphere, when  together  we  trod  the  same  halls  of  the  uni- 
versity, and  stored  our  minds  with  the  lore  of  other  days 
from  the  same  volumes,  and  drank  at  the  same  founts  of 
literature  and  science.  Those  were  days  of  calm,  as  we 
look  back  upon  them  through  the  vista  of  a  bustling  world, 
from  which  one  would  almost  wish  to  retire  again  to  the 
peaceful  shades  of  the  academy,  to  rest  from  the  turmoil 
and  the  change  and  the  excitement  of  the  general  society 
of  man. 

34 


80  A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

I  passed  on  through  the  grounds,  and  culled  a  handful  of 
flowers  from  shrub  and  tree  that  wave  above  monument 
or  beside  tombstone,  until  I  repassed  the  row  of  American 
sailors,  whose  resting-place  is  marked  by  a  new  monument 
over  the  body  of  the  boatswain  of  the  Adams,  who  rests 
in  their  midst.  Here  we  leave  them,  to  wait  their  call  to 
judgment.  They  came  with  us! 

I  passed  down,  on  my  way  to  the  portal,  and  stood  upon 
a  small  and  green  hillock,  conspicuous  in  its  location  on 
the  left  as  you  enter  the  gateway  of  the  grounds.  And 
there,  was  the  newly-made  grave  of  the  young  and  lovely 
missionary.  I  thought  how  like  a  beautiful  rose-bud,  with 
the  worm  at  its  heart,  she  had  drooped  and  died,  ere  yet 
half  its  lovely  petals  had  expanded.  And  then,  how  sad 
was  the  story,  that  even  then  was  being  borne  over  the 
ocean  to  parents,  whose  hearts  ere  long  were  destined  sadly 
to  break,  as  they  would  hear  that  their  child,  in  her  early 
age  of  twenty-two  years,  had  left  her  place  of  earth,  for  a 
home  in  heaven  !  I  had  not  thought  that  one  so  interesting, 
when  first  we  met,  would  be  so  soon  reposing  in  her  sleep 
of  the  grave-yard,  and  that  I  should  be  called  to  recite  the 
solemn  rite  of  burial  at  her  funeral  hour.  No  breeze  was 
stirring  up  the  hill-side  at  this  soft  hour,  and  all  was  still, 
save  the  zephyr  that  now  and  ever  rustled  the  long  and 
narrow  leaves  of  the  green  and  beautiful  cane-hedge, 
which  surrounds  this  land  of  silence,  or  whispered  through 
the  spicy  foliage  of  the  grove  of  nutmegs.  I  strewed  the 
flowers  upon  her  mound,  and  placed  three  roses  above  the 
bosom  of  the  lovely  sleeper,  and  turned  and  left  those 
grounds  for  ever. 

The  sundown  boat  was  already  at  the  dock.  But  the 
flags  of  the  European  and  American  shipping  were  yet 
flying,  as  the  sun  had  not  quite  sunk  beneath  the  horizon ; 
and  the  broad  blue  pennant  of  the  Columbia  waved  at  the 
top  of  the  main-mast  of  the  frigate.  A  man-of-war  is 
always  an  object  of  interest  in  the  port  where  she  is  lying. 
At  sunset,  when  her  colors  fall,  the  flags  of  all  the  shipping 
in  port,  at  the  same  instant,  drop,  in  compliment  to  the  war- 
ship. The  flag-ship,  therefore,  as  the  centre  of  attraction, 
at  such  an  hour,  has  many  eyes  turned  towards  her,  to 
mark  the  first  settling  of  her  ensign.  The  sundown  mu- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  81 

sic  was  already  rolling  off,  when  our  boat  had  reached 
half  her  way  on  her  return  to  the  ship.  And  there  she  lay 
to-night,  with  many  eyes  at  this  moment  resting  upon  her 
beautiful  proportions,  watching  the  first  slight  movement 
in  her  trembling  colors  as  they  should  severally  drop,  in 
another  moment,  from  the  gaff  and  the  main.  But  it  was 
the  last  time  these  same  flags,  in  their  fall,  would  desig- 
nate the  hour  to  the  shipping  of  the  harbor,  for  folding  their 
bunting.  And  it  was  from  this  circumstance  that  I  gazed 
upon  the  scene  with  greater  interest.  "  There  they  go," 
exclaimed  the  officer  beside  me,  and  together  in  beautiful 
harmony  were  the  flags  of  every  ship  in  the  harbor  seen 
falling  to  their  decks.  And  to-morrow,  thou  beautiful  cour- 
ser, thy  starred  and  striped  emblem  shall  wave  adieu  to 
yon  shore,  hill,  dwelling,  and  friends,  from  which  thy  last 
boat  now  conveys  us. 

On  the  succeeding  morning,  the  28th  of  March,  our 
ships  were  standing,  under  a  press  of  canvass,  from  the 
harbor  of  Singapore.  The  town  ere  long  was  left  in  the 
blue  distance,  and  the  outline  of  the  land,  where  we  had 
lingered  for  nearly  two  months,  faded,  and  sunk,  and  now 
was  lost  beneath  the  horizon. 

We  are  again  at  sea. 


SECTION    III. 

The  Morrison,  a  missionary  ship.  Rev.  Mr.  Dickinson,  Extract  from  a 
letter  written  at  the  point  antipodes  to  New-York  city.  Arrive  at  the 
harbor  of  Macao,  in  China.  Canton,  half-way  point  around  the  globe. 

As  our  ship  fell  off  from  her  moorings  and  filled  away, 
we  passed  a  little  to  the  leeward  but  quite  near  the  ship 
Morrison,  which  had  come  into  the  harbor  the  preceding 
evening.  This  vessel  is  called  the  "missionary  ship,"  and 
is  worthy  of  the  appellation,  in  view  of  the*  generous  and 
Christian  action  of  her  owners,  Messrs.  Oliphant,  King, 
and  Co.,  in  their  endeavors  to  favor  the  cause  of  missions. 


82  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

She  has  often  conveyed,  without  charge,  the  missionary 
from  home  to  his  destination  in  the  East,  and  in  the  East 
from  one  station  to  another. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Dickinson  is  a  passenger  in  the  Morri- 
son, from  Canto  to  Singapore.  His  arrival  was  unexpect- 
ed, and  I  had  hoped  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  at  Ma- 
cao. I  am  not  sure  that  we  have  seen  each  other  in 
America,  but  think  we  have,  and  expected  to  have  found 
him,  at  least,  from  the  same  college  with  myself.  Had 
we  delayed  twelve  hours  longer  we  should  have  met. 
But  we  are  now  lengthening  the  line  rapidly,  which,  every 
hour,  measures  wider  the  distance  between  us.  As  I 
gazed  on  the  mission  ship,  a  fine  specimen  of  an  American 
merchant-vessel,  I  thought  of  the  amiable  family  of  her 
owner,  and  some  of  their  neighbors  of  Bond-street,  with 
gentle  and  affectionate  kindness. 

ANTIPODES    TO    THE    CITY    OF    NEW-YORK. 

"  Frigate  Columbia,  at  sea,  April  9th,  1839. 

"  MY  DEAR  E. — We  left  Singapore  a  few  days  since, 
and  to-day,  whereabouts  in  the  China  sea  do  you  guess 
that  we  are?  Precisely  on  the  parallel  of  longitude  which 
makes  you  and  me  on  opposite  sides  of  the  globe.  The 
longitude  of  New- York  is  74°  1'  8"  west  of  Greenwich. 
At  twelve  o'clock  to-day,  our  ship  was  in  longitude  105° 
43'  45"  ;  and  since,  we  have  slowly  glided  over  a  little 
more  than  fifteen  miles,  which  makes  us  this  evening,  and 
while  I  am  writing,  within  a  few  rods  of  being  directly 
opposite  Bond-street,  or  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees 
east  of  the  City  Hall.  And  were  the  earth  to  be  severed 
in  half  with  a  case  knife  (what  a  metaphor)  at  this  mo- 
ment, with  the  plane  of  section  passing  through  your  par- 
lor, it  would  stand  nine  chances  out  of  ten  of  hitting 
both  of  us. 

"  The  earth,  to  me,  since  I  have  been  sailing  thus  far 
around  it,  (having  now  reached  the  point  of  half  its  cir- 
cumference,) appears  to  be  a  very  small  thing  in  measure- 
ment, though  mighty  indeed  in  its  associations  of  the  mil- 
lions who,  each  generation,  are  coming  upon  it  and  pass- 
ing from  it. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  83 

"  And  the  distance  to  you  from  me  to-night,  through  the 
globe,  is  only  some  eight  thousand  miles.  You  see  the 
advantage  one  would  enjoy,  were  a  tunnel  sunken  through 
the  earth  from  the  China  sea  to  New- York.  The  nearest 
way  a  bird  could  take  over  the  circumference  of  the 
earth,  would  be  some  more  than  twelve  thousand  miles, 
and  we  have  sailed  more  than  twenty  thousand  in  doubling 
capes,  islands,  shoals,  etc.,  including  our  wild-goose  chase 
down  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra,  after  unfledged  Malay 
bipeds. 

"  From  this  point,  too,  you  may  conceive  of  me  as  being 
on  my  return-way,  as  every  day  we  sail  we  shall  be  les- 
sening the  180  degrees  of  longitude  we  are  now  from  you. 
And  then,  when  we  shall  reach  you,  by  continually  sailing 
east  from  the  time  we  left  you,  we  shall  have  gained  one 
day,  and  the  world  will  have  turned  around  once  less  with 
us  than  with  you ;  and  should  we  reach  New-York  on 
Sunday,  according  to  the  reckoning  with  us  it  will  be 
Saturday  with  you,  and  we  shall  have  the  curious  expe- 
rience of  proving  the  old  adage,  in  some  cases  to  be  false, 
that  *  two  Sundays  never  come  together/ 

"  I  finished  a  letter  to  K.  T.  last  night,  or  I  should  not 
have  ventured  to  occupy  so  much  of  this  with  such  a  dis- 
quisition on  the  rotundity  of  this  bit  of  a  compound  of 
land  and  ocean. 

"  Ding,  ding — ding  !  goes  the  John  Adams'  three  bells, 
just  under  our  larboard  beam,  very  like  the  sound  of  some 
passing  steamer,  as  I  hear  it  from  my  state-room  port, 
so  pleasantly  and  near  are  the  two  ships  sailing  together. 
And  to-night,  just  as  the  Adams'  music  beat  to  quarters, 
at  sunset,  she  had  come  up  so  close  to  the  frigate,  that  we 
could  distinguish  the  features  of  the  officers  from  our  quar^ 
ter,  and  distinctly  hear  every  order  given  on  board  the 
Adams  by  the  officer  of  the  deck. 

"  Three  bells  of  the  first  watch,  is  half-past  nine  o'clock. 
Another  half  hour,  or  at  four  bells,  and  our  lights  are  put 
out,  unless  an  officer  ask  permission  to  retain  his  longer, 
which  it  is  expected  will  not  be  done,  unless  something  of 
particular  importance  is  to  be  attended  to.  A  few  mo- 
ments only  remain  for  me  to  adjust  myself  for  the  night's 
cradling,  before  the  voice  of  that  almost  always  disagree- 

34* 


84  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

able  master-at-arms  will  be  heard  so  untimely  at  my  door, 
*  Ten  o'clock,  sir.'  Therefore,  my  dear  E.,  good-night ; 
and  may  kind  dreams  and  kind  angels  attend  thee." 

We  were  standing  in  through  the  islands  last  night, 
the  27th  of  April,  for  Macao ;  and  yesterday  and  to-day 
the  change  in  the  temperature  of  the  air  has  been  very 
great,  in  contrast  with  the  clear  and  pleasant  atmosphere 
we  had  during  our  stay  at  Singapore  and  passage  up  the 
China  sea.  The  thermometer  has  fallen  ten  degrees.  So 
sudden  a  change,  occurring  in  almost  twenty-four  hours, 
has  metamorphosed  our  crew  into  a  dark-clad  set,  with 
woollen  roundabouts  and  trousers  of  the  same  material, 
for  their  light  duck  pantaloons  and  simple  frocks. 

This  morning,  the  27th,  we  came  to  anchor  off  Macao, 
and  this  evening  ran  in  still  nearer  the  town,  lying  now 
at  a  distance  of  some  five  or  six  miles  from  the  city, 
though  in  full  view  of  the  town,  and  the  shipping  riding 
at  their  anchors  in  considerable  numbers  about  two  miles 
from  the  shore. 

Here  then  we  are  at  last,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Can- 
ton, a  point  towards  which  we  have  been  looking  with 
particular  interest  from  the  time  of  our  sailing,  as  the  half- 
way point  around  the  world ;  and  towards  which  the  vision 
of  every  child  of  the  west  has  been  directed  when  think- 
ing of  the  Indies,  where  his  tea  came  from,  and  where 
that  singular  people  of  the  "Celestial  Empire,"  who  wear 
long  braids  touching  their  feet,  dwell ;  to  whom  we  have 
been  so  largely  indebted  for  toys,  trinkets,  chessmen,  and 
China  silks,  China  cups,  and  ginger  sweetmeats. 

But  every  thing  here  is  all  aback.  No  communication 
between  Canton  and  Macao  ;  and  the  American  and  Eng- 
lish merchants  held  "in  durance  vile,"  some  two  hundred 
of  them  at  Canton,  feeding,  without  servants,  on  rice  and 
water,  until  all  the  opium  shall  have  been  given  up  to  the 
Chinese  authorities.  And  our  letters,  waiting  us  in  Can- 
ton, are  destined,  they  say,  there  to  wait,  until  the  "  trade 
is  re-opened."  The  Chinese  seem  to  have  some  pluck, 
with  an  empire  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  millions  against 
a  handful  of  merchants.  Heigh-ho,  for  long-expected 
home  news ! 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  85 

SECTION   IV. 

CHINA. 
MACAO. 

Visit  to  the  shore.  Matins.  H.  B.  M.  ship  Larne.  Impression  produced 
by  the  arrival  of  the  Columbia.  Foreigners  held  prisoners  at  Canton. 
Stroll  through  the  Bazaar.  Origin  of  the  word  Chowder.  Chinese  wo- 
men  with  little  feet.  An  apology  for  the  custom  of  contracting  them  in 
infancy.  Mrs.  King.  The  City  of  Macao.  Cassa  Gardens  and  Camo- 
en's  Cave.  Latin  lines  to  Camoen's  Cave.  Translation.  English  Burial 
Ground.  Grave  of  Miss  Gillespie.  Lines.  Inscriptions  on  the  Monu- 
ments of  Roberts  and  Campbell.  Residence  on  shore.  The  Campo. 
Visit  at  Mr.  G.'s.  Letters  from  Home.  Preach  in  the  English  Chapel. 
American  Missionaries,  Presbyterians  and  Baptists.  Mr.  King.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Squire.  Woman.  Preach  and  administer  the  Communion.  Call 
on  Captain  Elliot,  the  British  Superintendent.  His  measures,  and  Chinese 
difficulties.  Painting  of  George  the  Fourth.  Dine  with  Captain  Elliot. 
Mr.  Beal's  Garden.  Bird  of  Paradise.  Missionaries  in  China,  and  Mis- 
sionary prospects.  A  father's  farewell  letter  to  his  daughter,  on  her  leav- 
ing for  a  Foreign  Mission.  The  ships  change  their  anchorage  from  Macao 
Roads  to  Tung-Koo  Bay.  Catholic  processions.  The  Author  leaves  Macao 
for  Canton.  Description  of  the  passage,  and  approach  to  the  city.  The  au- 
thor meets  Dr.  Parker  at  the  American  Hong,  and  takes  up  his  residence 
there  during  his  stay  in  the  Provincial  City. 

I  CAME  on  shore  early  this  morning,  April  30th,  1839. 
Having  secured  my  room  at  the  hotel,  I  sallied  forth  for  an 
early  morning  walk,  as  I  heard  the  bells  for  matins  strik- 
ing in  different  parts  of  the  town.  The  church-going  bell 
has  always  had  a  charm  in  it  for  me  ;  and  nowhere  has 
its  tones  broken  on  my  ear  more  sweetly  than  when  its 
cadence  came  over  a  green  lawn  from  a  village-spire.  In 
the  crowded  city,  at  home,  its  notes  seem  to  struggle  as  if 
its  vibrations  were  pent  up  by  the  brick  walls,  and  its  mel- 
low breathings  disturbed  by  the  noisy  pavements  or  the 
hum  of  the  thousand  voices  of  the  multitude  crowding  to 
the  thronged  temples.  But  abroad,  the  matin  and  the  ves- 
per bell,  in  village  or  in  city,  have  all  the  romance  of  re- 
ligion associated  with  them ;  and  the  poetry  of  the  solemn 
abbey,  and  the  silence  of  the  spacious  cathedral,  awake 
visions  in  which  the  imagination  of  him  who  loves  the 
plaintive,  the  lonely,  and  the  sad,  finds  congenial  aliment 


86  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

for  its  wild  and  welcome  combinations.  Fiction  has  done 
much  in  throwing  a  deep  romantic  interest  around  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  religion.  The  novels  we  have  perused  in 
our  young  days  have  had  their  scenes  within  the  cloisters, 
and  the  cowled  priest  and  the  veiled  nun  have  acted  their 
conspicuous  parts  in  the  tragedy  and  the  love-drama,  over 
which  the  young  imagination  has  lingered  with  excited 
interest,  as  we  have  spent  our  young  emotions.  Indeed  I 
can  remember  when  it  was  my  desire,  however  much  my 
private  sentiments  would  lead  me  to  wish  the  suppression 
of  those  fraternities  and  sisterhoods  of  the  monastery  and 
the  nunnery  for  a  wiser  system  of  public  benevolence  and 
private  piety,  that  it  might  be  within  the  compass  of  my  own 
journeyings  to  visit  these  recluses,  as  they  exist  abroad, 
before  they  should  crumble,  in  the  revolution  of  time  and 
sentiment,  to  decay  and  ruin.  And  I  have  seen  them,  both 
at  home  and  abroad. 

It  is  my  habit,  the  first  morning  I  spend  in  a  foreign 
place  where  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  prevails,  to  at- 
tend matins.  I  go  not  irreverently  there,  but  love  to  seek 
the  stillness  and  the  solitude  of  the  spacious  cathedral, 
which  is  rendered  doubly  more  silent  and  solemn  by  the 
few,  perhaps  single  worshipper,  seen  kneeling  in  the  ex- 
tended area  constituting  the  floor  of  the  massive  building, 
while  the  low  murmur  of  the  priest  at  the  far-in  altar 
comes,  in  impressive  and  scarcely  heard  whispers,  to  the 
ear.  It  is  a  fit  place  for  the  stranger  to  carry  back  his 
thoughts  to  the  past — to  remember  the  kind  Providence 
that  has  been  with  him  to  the  present — to  think  of  those 
he  loves  far  away — and  of  his  God,  to  whose  care  he 
would  commend  them — and  then,  with  all  these  thousand 
memories,  and  musings,  and  emotions  which  they  awake, 
to  offer  the  silent  prayer  to  the  Deity,  to  whom  he  owes 
all — from  whom  he  hopes  all — and  whom  he  would  love, 
adore,  and  worship,  with  thankfulness,  dependence,  and 
devotion. 

I  returned  to  the  hotel  better  prepared  to  relish  a  shore- 
cup  of  delicious  tea  and  a  very  good  breakfast ;  and  met 
at  the  table  two  or  three  of  the  officers  of  H.  B.  M.  ship 
Larne.  They  politely  invited  me  to  take  a  stroll  with 
them  through  the  bazaar,  after  breakfast. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  87 

The  Lame,  the  British  sloop  of  war,  is  here,  delaying 
on  account  of  the  late  disturbances  between  the  Chinese 
and  the  foreigners.  She  is  the  only  war-ship  we  have 
found  here  ;  and  in  the  possibility  of  additional  difficulties 
with  the  Chinese,  they  having  threatened  to  cut  off  all  sup- 
plies from  Macao,  our  arrival  has  proved  very  acceptable 
to  all.  There  are  several  war-junks  moored  in  front  of 
the  city,  threatening  all  that  such  monsters  in  nautical 
science  are  capable  of  threatening,  and  at  least  working 
so  powerfully  upon  the  imaginations  and  personal  appre- 
hensions of  the  Chinese  part  of  the  population  of  Macao, 
as  to  render  them  unwilling  to  traffic  openly  with  the  for- 
eigners. And  the  officers  of  the  Larne  were  kind,  on 
our  arrival,  in  sending  a  boat  which  contained  fresh  pro- 
visions for  themselves  to  our  ship,  under  the  apprehension 
that  we  might  find  it  difficult  to  gain  an  immediate 
supply. 

i  Indeed,  the  arrival  of  our  ship  here  has  been  particu- 
larly opportune  ;  and  the  apprehensions  of  all  the  foreign- 
ers, as  well  as  the  Portuguese,  whose  settlement  of  Macao 
has  been  threatened  positively  and  openly,  are  allayed ; 
and  the  community  feel  that  they  have  a  sufficient  protec- 
tion to  prevent  any  further  high-handed  measure  on  the 
part  of  the  Chinese. 

Almost  all  the  American  and  English  gentlemen  are 
now  at  Canton,  there  held  imprisoned  within  the  grounds 
of  the  foreign  factories,  and  are  there  to  remain  until  the 
stipulated  amount  of  opium  (20,000  chests)  shall  have  been 
delivered  up.  Our  own  arrival  is  said  already  to  have 
had  its  effect  upon  the  tone  of  the  Chinese  authorities,  suf- 
ficient time  having  already  passed  for  them  to  gain  at 
Canton,  through  their  own  agents,  knowledge  of  our  an- 
choring in  the  Roads.  It  would  be  a  fete  gratifying,  I 
doubt  not,  to  all  the  officers  of  our  ship,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest,  to  force  the  Bogue,  and  to  demand  without 
delay  the  Americans  now  held  within  their  premises  at 
Canton.  But  the  apprehension  is,  that,  as  their  numbers 
are  comparatively  so  small,  and  a  mob  of  a  numerous 

I  populace  are  ever  so  ready  to  do  the  bidding  of  the  reck- 
less and  the  abandoned,  our  approach  might  be  attended 
with  danger  from  the  rabble  at  Canton,  The  authorities 


88 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


themselves  have  said,  all  that  they  have  to  do  for  the  de- 
struction of  those  now  within  their  power  is,  to  allow  the 
mob  to  do  their  own  wishes.  And  there  may  be  truth  in 
in  all  this,  as  there  is  a  general  impression  among  the  lower 
classes  of  the  Chinese  at  Canton,  that  the  foreign  factories 
are  filled  with  the  precious  metals,  and  that  the  plunder 
were  well  wrorth  the  sacrifice  of  the  heads  of  the  few  "for- 
eign devils"  that  have  the  custody  of  it.  It  is  in  view  of 
these  possibilities,  and  perhaps  just  apprehensions,  that  our 
Consul  advises  that  no  action  should  be  had  on  the  part  of 
the  Commodore,  until  other  exigencies  may  call  for  it ; 
and  that  the  readiest  way  for  the  Americans  and  the  Eng- 
lish to  effect  their  departure  from  Canton  is,  to  await  qui- 
etly for  the  delivery  of  the  specified  quantity  of  opium, 
which  is  now  being  rapidly  accomplished  through  the  Eng- 
lish superintendent  of  trade.  Captain  Elliot.  When  this 
shall  have  been  done,  if  the  assurances  of  the  Chinese  au- 
thorities are  to  be  depended  upon,  the  foreigners  will  be 
permitted  to  leave  Canton  for  Macao. 

FIRST    RAMBLE    THROUGH    THE    BAZAARS. 

I  accompanied  the  officers  of  the  Lame  in  a  ramble 
through  the  bazaar,  as  they  had  politely  offered  to  point 
out  the  way  to  this  collection  of  shops,  which  contain  the 
principal  curiosities  of  Chinese  manufacture  to  be  found 
at  Macao.  And  I  was  gratified  to  perceive  that,  in  the 
event  of  our  ultimately  being  unable  to  visit  Canton,  the 
Chinese  bazaar  at  Macao  would  afford  almost  all  the  ar- 
ticles of  curiosity  and  of  utility  we  had  hoped  to  secure  at 
Canton.  The  bazaar  is  composed  of  a  mass  of  small,  one- 
and-a-half  story  shops,  lining  uninterruptedly  both  sides  of 
several  narrow  streets — the  streets  themselves  being  gen- 
erally flagged  by  long  and  roughly  cut  granite  slabs  or 
blocks,  rendering  the  streets,  though  narrow,  (being  only 
sufficient  for  three  or  four  persons  to  walk  abreast,)  clean 
but  thickly  crowded.  Here  the  Chinese  display  the  whole 
of  the  interior  of  their  shop — with  their  shelves  lining  the 
three  sides — the  front  part  of  the  building  being  so  con- 
structed as  to  be  removed  during  the  day,  for  the  display 
of  the  interior.  And  here  may  be  found  all  those  millions 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  89 

of  Chinese  trinkets,  and  thousands  of  more  useful  things, 
which  we  have  seen  in  another  hemisphere,  and  have  been 
told,  in  other  days,  that  they  came  from  China.  The  dash- 
ing lady*  might  regale  her  eye,  by  a  simple  request  of 
Mr.  Chinese  Kingti,  with  crape  shawls  of  different  colors, 
and  different  patterns,  and  different  prices,  from  what 
would  be  valued  in  America  at  ten  to  one  hundred  dollars. 
And  if  she  desired  it,  she  might,  per  order,  have  one 
wrought  with  embroidery  according  to  her  own  taste  and 
pattern,  to  cost  any  amount  short  of  a  round  thousand. 
And  then,  she  might  be  pleased  in  looking  over  a  box  of 
scarfs — some  very  pretty,  some  very  indifferent — and  then, 
examine  some  very  pretty  embroidered  aprons,  that  would 
please  the  young  lady  of  fifteen,  and  be  quite  admissible 
for  her  to  appear  in  at  breakfast.  And  then,  she  might 
examine  the  many  and  rich  colored  silks  as  they  unfolded 
their  rolls  one  after  another ;  and  if  she  found  them  entire- 
ly  clear  of  spots,  she  might  say  that  this  and  that  is  very 

Eretty,  and  very  heavy;  but,  after  all,  France  and  Switzer- 
md  and  Italy  give  us  quite  as  beautiful  dresses  as  these 
would  make ;  and  however  fond  they  may  be  of  making 
good  profits  at  Stewart's  in  Broadway,  the  dress  would 
come  cheaper,  and  after  all,  probably  look  richer  and  last 
longer.  And  then,  if  she  herself  may  be  fond  of  embroi- 
dering, she  certainly  would  be  tempted  to  industry  as  that 
rich  and  beautifully  colored  floss-silk  of  every  dye  was 
laid  open  before  her  covetous  eye,  while  the  visions  of  un- 
wrought  lilies  and  roses  and  carnations  and  tulips,  and 
leaves  of  the  grape-vine,  and  half-expanded  buds  of  moss- 
roses  recalled  her  recollections  of  handiwork  that  she  had 
already  inlaid  upon  the  canvass.  And  perhaps,  perhaps, 
it  would  even  recur  to  her,  at  the  moment,  as  a  lingering, 
interloping  thought,  that,  if  she  had  possessed  all  these 
rich  dyes,  she  might  have  added  one  more  beauty  to  a  fa- 
vorite pair  of  beautiful  slippers,  which  her  own  hands  had 
embroidered,  and  which,  with  her  gentlest  smile  of  kind- 
ness, her  own  hand  had  presented  to  the  partial  friend, 

*  It  is  not  usual  for  ladies  to  shop  it  in  Macao,  though  they  some- 
times thus  indulge  themselves.  They  more  usually  send  to  the  shops 
and  request  whatever  they  would  see  to  be  sent  to  their  dwellings. 


90  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

from  whom  she  desired,  but  did  not  ask,  a  memory  for  her 
own  gentle  self.  And  then,  there  is  an  article  almost  rich 
enough  for  a  bride  herself,  and  only  surpassed  by  the  pina 
of  Manilla  for  its  fineness  and  its  beauty.  It  rivals  the 
bishop's  lawn,  and  the  finest  cannot  always  be  procured. 
But  it  is  of  gossamer  lightness  when  it  can  be,  and  floats 
on  the  air  like  wreaths  of  which  the  softest  clouds  are 
made. 

But  we  could  not  linger  long  at  Kingti's,  and  we  passed 
to  his  neighbors,  and  found  that  the  richest  and  most  deli- 
cate China  ware  comes  from  Nanking,  and  some  of  it  is 
exquisite.  But  the  diminution  in  the  porcelain  trade  has 
reduced  the  amount  of  the  manufactured  articles,  and  full 
sets  of  the  costliest  kinds  can  hardly  be  found,  but  must  be 
made  per  order.  And  there  were  rich  Nanking  vases, 
which  we  found  we  could  purchase  for  one  hundred  dollars 
a  pair.  They  were  exquisite,  and  would  be  richly  ornamen- 
tal anywhere,  when  crowned  with  gorgeous  and  lovely 
flowers,  for  which  they  were  made. 

The  Chinese  are  fond  of  flowers,  but  cultivate  them  al- 
most exclusively  in  vases,  which  are  generally  constructed 
of  a  rough  porcelain  material,  and  glazed,  to  stand  the  in- 
clemencies of  the  weather  and  the  continued  exposure  of 
the  open  air. 

But  nothing  crowds  more  upon  the  attention  of  the  stran- 
ger, as  he  walks  through  the  bazaar,  than  the  great  variety 
of  the  chow-chow,*  eatable  things  in  the  shape  of  pickles, 
sweetmeats,  ginger-root,  just  taken  from  the  ground,  and 
soft,  white,  and  tender;  and  salted  eggs,  covered  with  a  red 
clay,  and  shark-fins  ;  and  everywhere,  first,  midst,  and  last, 
paddy,  paddy,  paddy  ;  rice,  rice,  rice.  This  is  the  staff  on 
which  the  Chinese  lean  for  support ;  and  it  is  said  that 
a  mace  a  day,  or  ten-elevenths  of  a  cent,  will  support  a 
Chinese. 

To  each  shop  there  is  a  back-room,  in  which  the  whole 
coterie,  including  the  principal  Chinese  of  the  establish- 
ment, and  his  five,  six,  or  seven  partners,  who  are  often  all 

*  This  word  is  used  in  the  sense  of  medley,  and  is  often  repeated 
in  China.  Does  not  the  New  England  word  chowder  derive  its  ori- 
gin from  it  ? 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  91 

brothers,  if  so  many  happen  to  be  in  the  family,  gather  for 
their  meals  around  a  single  table,  with  each  one  his  bowl 
and  his  pair  of  chop-sticks,  with  a  single  central  bowl  of 
larger  dimensions,  to  contain  the  rice  for  the  whole  party. 
Besides  the  one  large  bowl  of  rice,  there  is  generally  seen 
upon  the  table  a  variety  of  chow-chow  dishes,  in  the  shape 
of  pickled  ginger-root,  garlick,  beans,  cabbage,  etc.,  from 
each  dish  of  which  they  all  help  themselves  with  their  own 
pair  of  chop-sticks,  which  lose  not  their  place  from  between 
the  fourth  and  third  fingers  and  thumb,  during  the  meal, 
and  are  "  nimble  boys"  indeed,  as  their  own  language  de- 
signates them. 

Simplicity  is  inculcated  by  the  sages  of  the  Chinese  em- 
pire, and  their  precepts  are  rigidly  adhered  to,  by  the  absence 
of  every  thing  else,  in  the  way  of  table-furniture,  save 
their  pair  of  chop-sticks  and  bowl. 

The  shop-keeper,  as  one  may  suppose,  has  therefore  but 
few  encumbrances  to  lay  aside  on  the  entrance  of  a  cus- 
tomer at  the  meal-time.  Rather,  as  he  has  most  usually, 
on  such  occasions  of  his  rice-eating,  divested  himself  of 
his  grass-cloth  frock,  which  at  other  times  serves  him  as 
his  only  upper  garment,  loosely  hanging  over  his  large 
trousers,  which  are  gathered  within  his  white  stockings 
at  the  knee,  he  replaces  this  by  a  slight  manoeuvre  of  di- 
ving through  it,  and  appears  before  the  foreigner  less  wil- 
ling to  show  the  fine  development  of  the  muscles  of  his 
arms  and  shoulders  than  he  was  to  expose  them  to  the 
manes  of  his  grandfathers  as  he  sits  disrobed  at  his  meals. 

SMALL-FOOTED    CHINESE- 

On  our  return,  we  passed  two  Chinese  women  attended 
by  their  servants,  who  were  walking,  rather  were  waddling 
through  the  less  crowded  part  of  Macao,  on  their  little  feet, 
with  each  a  staff  in  her  hand  to  enable  her  to  preserve  her 
balance.  They  were  quite  neatly  dressed,  a  la  Sinice. 
The  first  emotion  awakened  in  the  feelings  of  a  foreigner 
on  meeting  one  of  these  sufferers  of  China's  perverted 
tastes,  is  that  of  pity,  and  one  almost  wishes,  as  his  next 
thought,  that  he  had  the  power  of  inflicting  merited  and 
severe  chastisement  upon  the  parents  who  suffered  such 

35 


92  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

perversion  of  nature  and  taste ;  for,  turn  the  world  from 
east  to  west,  and  let  other  things  remain  as  they  are,  and 
it  can  never  be  shown  that  the  principles  of  fitness  and 
taste  are  otherwise  than  the  same.  But  so  it  is  in  China — 
little  feet  and  swelled  ankles,  and  nature  tortured  and  dis- 
located, are  regarded  as  the  standard  of  beauty.  And 
when  the  whole  secret  of  the  matter  is  known,  it  will  not, 
perhaps,  be  considered  so  astonishing  that  delicate  women 
should  suffer  thus  to  be  tortured,  and  themselves  again,  as 
mothers,  repeating  the  torture  upon  their  children.  It  is 
said  to  be  the  very  general  if  not  the  invariable  custom  of 
the  parents,  whose  right  it  is,  in  the  selection  of  a  wife  for 
their  son,  to  choose  a  small-footed  nymph  for  his  first  com- 
panion, who  has  gone  through  this  horrible  process  of  dis- 
organization. And  as  the  first  wife,  according  to  Chinese 
customs,  is  the  honorable  partner  of  the  husband  and  has 
under  her  control  all  his  other  wives,  which,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Chinese,  each  one  may  add  to  his  house- 
hold, it  becomes  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  the  female 
that  she  possess  the  qualities  that  will  allow  her  to  be  eli- 
gible to  this  most  honorable  and  first  situation  in  the  house- 
hold of  her  lord.  Shoes  variously  ornamented  with  tinsel 
can  be  purchased  in  the  bazaar  for  these  tiny  feet,  or  apol- 
ogies for  what  once  were  such,  or  would  have  been,  but 
now  are  but  an  exemplification  of  a  small  solid  triangle, 
which  has  the  appearance  of  a  small  imperfect  cone,  lat- 
erally truncated  so  as  to  give  it  a  base,  that  it  may  rest 
on  its  side.  And  I  have  in  my  possession  three  or  four 
pair  of  these  curiosities  which  have  actually  been  worn, 
one  of  which  is  less  than  four  inches  long.  It  would  seem 
incredible  ;  and  the  truth  is,  these  shoes  are  rather  forced 
upon  the  great  toe  and  so  much  of  the  triangular  foot  as 
it  will  cover,  and  then,  with  a  high  heel  to  effect  a  level,  the 
rest  part  of  the  foot  and  ankle  is  bandaged,  so  as  by  this  ar- 
rangement to  represent  the  foot  still  smaller  than  it  really  is. 

It  would  seem,  if  it  be  true  as  is  asserted,  that  the  Em- 
press of  China  and  her  Tartar  sisters  of  the  imperial  blood, 
do  not  follow  the  Chinese  custom  of  bandaging  their  feet : 
and  thus  it  is  not  always  true  that  the  court  sets  the  fashion. 
But  this  is  in  China,  where  every  thing  goes  by  contraries. 

Our  countryman,  Mr.  K.,  of  the  house  of  Oliphant,  King, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  93 

and  Co.,  at  Canton,  is  among  the  Americans  who  have 
been  caught  napping  at  the  provincial  city  ;  and  although 
known  not  to  have  given  any  offence  to  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment by  engaging  in  the  traffic  of  opium,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  exerted  his  influence  to  put  an  end  to  the  trade, 
the  Chinese  chose  to  make  no  open  distinction  between  the 
foreigners  detained  in  the  city.  Mr.  K.  happened  to  be  in 
Canton  at  the  time  the  embargo  was  laid  upon  their  per- 
sons, and  as  no  intercourse  is  allowed  between  Macao  and 
Canton,  of  course  he  awaits  the  further  action  of  the  Chi- 
nese government. 

I  called  on  Mrs.  King  this  morning,  who  seems  but  lit- 
tle apprehensive  for  the  safety  of  Mr.  K.  ;  and  for  herself, 
she  would  apprehend  but  little  danger  to  the  persons  of  the 
Americans,  should  our  ship  take  her  course  without  delay 
towards  the  commercial  mart  of  these  celestials,  and  ask 
permission  of  these  long-braided  gentlemen  for  the  Ameri- 
cans to  take  their  leave,  for  a  visit  to  Macao.  But  Mrs. 
K.  is  something  of  a  heroine,  in  the  way  of  placidity  of 
nerves,  though  danger  may  be  near,  as  she  has  demonstra- 
ted to  her  friends  in  more  than  a  single  instance.  She  was 
on  board  the  Morrison  with  her  husband,  when  that  ship 
was  fired  into  by  the  Japanese.  This  seemed  sport  enough 
for  her,  I  am  told,  to  make  her  wish  to  look  at  it  rather 
than  to  retire  below  to  a  safer  part  of  the  ship.  Woman 
is  ever  brave  and  patient,  when  necessity  has  so  combined 
circumstances  as  to  render  danger  or  distress  an  unavoid- 
able experience. 

Mrs.  K.  is  an  interesting  representative  from  our  own 
good  land.  And  might  I  describe,!  would  paint  a  fine  blue 
eye,  a  delicate,  frank,  and  interesting  countenance,  a  set  of 
brilliant  teeth,  and  a  person  in  a  dark  silk  dress,  which  the 
eye  at  once  recognised,  in  its  make,  as  a  pattern  not  from 
England  but  from  America,  and  makes  you  think  of  your 
own  lady-friends,  as  they  are  remembered,  on  promenade, 
up  that  finest  street  in  the  world — Broadway — in  old  Go- 
tham of  the  new  world,  and  the  native  home  of  Mrs.  K. 
Did  I  feel  at  liberty,  I  might  record  it  more  especially  to 
the  praise  of  this  lady,  that  the  moral  welfare  of  the  native 
females  of  China  has  elicited  in  their  behalf  her  feelings 
of  interest  and  action. 


94  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

It  is  said  that  many  ingenious  devices  are  resorted  to  in 
these  times  of  non-intercourse  with  Canton,  for  conveying 
letters  between  the  two  cities.  There  are  Chinese  who  are 
willing,  for  considerable  sums,  to  run  the  risk  of  taking 
small  packages  clandestinely,  though  it  be  at  the  endan- 
gering of  the  healthful  flow  of  the  blood  through  the  jug- 
ular veins.  Sometimes  a  slip  of  paper  is  made  up  in  the 
form  of  a  paper  cigar — sometimes  placed  in  the  sole  of  a 
Chinese  shoe — again  concealed  in  some  dish  of  cooked 
rice  or  other  eatables. 

The  city  of  Macao,  in  its  picturesque,  as  seen  when  ap- 
proached from  the  sea,  has  a  combination  of  interest  be- 
yond any  other  city  we  have  visited  in  the  East.  Here  is 
the  castellated  mount,  the  high  and  cross-crowned  spire, 
the  low  and  truncated  cupola,  the  green  mountain-side  rais- 
ing high  up  its  conical  top  in  bold  relief  against  the  pure 
sky,  and  the  white  city,  laying  itself  out  in  the  ravines  be- 
tween the  green  hills,  and  presenting,  in  its  front,  one  line 
of  dwellings  looking  over  a  lovely  bay,  while  the  public 
buildings  covering  the  heights  render  the  blended  amphi- 
theatre of  house  and  hill-side,  and  turret  and  spire,  and 
lines  of  fortification,  and  convent,  and  church,  and  hermit- 
age, an  exhibition  of  the  beautiful  and  romantic  of  the  first 
order  in  natural  and  artificial  scenery.  The  city  is  flanked 
by  two  forts  on  the  plain  and  two  in  walled  hermitages  or 
small  churches  on  the  high  conical  heights.  The  largest 
fortification  of  the  town,  commanding  the  harbor  and  the 
city  beneath  it,  crowns  the  central  mount,  and  is  the  con- 
spicuous and  high-up  object  that  meets  the  eye.  From 
these  forts  streams  the  Portuguese  flag;  and  on  festal  days 
of  the  church,  and  political  jubilees  of  the  kingdom,  the 
hermitages  may  be  seen  illuminated,  as  bright  things  with 
their  rows  of  light  on  the  mount ;  while  the  guns  from  the 
central  fortification  usually  speak  in  eulogy  of  heavenly 
saints  and  political  sinners,  on  their  anniversaries.  But 
all  this  rich  scenic  effect,  as  it  falls  on  the  vision  when  one 
is  for  the  first  time  approaching  the  city  of  Macao  in  his 
small  boat,  to  reach  the  landing  place  of  the  Praya  Grande, 
is  considerably  diminished  when  he  wanders  through  the 
narrow  streets  of  the  town,  while  nature  all  around  him 
retains  her  proportions  of  grandeur  and  outline^  of  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  95 

beautiful.  The  Portuguese,  like  the  Spaniards,  have  a 
faculty  of  giving  an  air  of  antiquity  to  all  they  have  to  do 
with ;  while  there  is  yet  a  freshness  in  the  appearance  of 
Macao,  as  you  contemplate  it  in  the  distance,  which  di- 
minishes not  the  effect  of  the  olden  in  the  contrast,  which 
the  fortifications  and  the  public  buildings  give  to  a  city, 
which  may  boast  of  centennial  years. 

In  the  city  of  Macao,  there  are  not  a  few  objects  of 
interest  to  one  of  leisure,  who  has  a  love  for  marking 
character,  observing  manners,  and  connecting  and  tracing 
back  present  existences  to  their  causes  which  lie  in  the 
past. 

One  of  the  first  objects  of  curiosity  to  which  the  stran- 
ger is  invited,  is  a  beautiful  garden  now  belonging  to  a 
young  Portuguese  gentleman,  containing  the  cave  where 
Camoens,  the  justly  celebrated  bard  who  sung,  in  heroics, 
the  deeds  of  the  first  navigators  around  the  Cape,  is  said 
to  have  composed  many  of  his  verses. 

Having  dined,  by  invitation,  with  a  gentleman  in  the 
neighborhood  of  this  garden,  we  walked  to  the  grounds, 
and  I  was  not  disappointed  in  the  beauty  of  the  location. 
It  is  a  place  that  will  not  tire  the  lover  of  solitude  and 
stillness  and  the  profound  in  nature ;  for  here  is  rock  and 
ravine  and  deep  shades  of  tangled  foliage,  as  well  as 
flowers  and  balmy  air  and  sunshine.  I  have  a  partiality 
for  rocks — the  cragged  peak,  the  deep  ravine,  vale  and 
hill,  and  dense  woods ;  and  here  are  mighty  granite  bol- 
ders  piled  on  top  of  each  other ;  and  the  surface  of  the 
garden  is  almost  as  uneven  as  the  space  of  the  grounds 
could  admit.  And  every  thing  is  luxuriant.  The  rocks 
are  embowered  by  the  evergreen  foliage.  The  winding 
and  abrupt  paths,  leading  up  the  steep  aslant  or  down  the 
mimic  declivity,  are  coated  with  a  cement  called  chunam, 
thus  giving  them  a  smooth  flagging,  which  the  torrents  of 
rain  affect  not,  however  in  seasons  of  the  storm  or  shower 
the  currents  may  sport  down  the  hill-steep.  By  winding 
up  one  of  these  paths,  we  came  to  an  elevated  spot,  that 
commanded  a  view  of  the  other  parts  of  the  ground.  It 
is  a  small  space  of  table-ground,  and  from  its  level  surface 
rise  several  granite  holders  with  plain  surfaces,  two  of 
which  are  separated  some  three  or  four  feet,  and  on  their 

35* 


96  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

top  rests  another  immense  block  of  the  same  imperishable 
material,  thus  forming  the  celebrated  cave  of  Camoens. 
They  are  blocks  of  granite,  resting  upon  a  mightier  base 
of  immoveable  rock  ;  and  around,  wherever  root  can  find 
a  place  for  entering  its  tendrils,  the  tree  has  gained  its 
hold,  and  the  foliage  of  the  many  stately  shafts  wave  on 
their  interlacing  boughs,  and  give  a  richness  of  shade  to 
this  seat  of  quiet  and  rural  beauty.  The  cave  is  open  on 
two  sides,  and  is  some  six  or  seven  feet  in  width,  more  or 
less,  rectangular,  and  more  open  and  regular  than  the 
Judges'  cave  of  western  memory,  but  of  the  same  order, 
within  a  few  miles  of  that  most  enchanting  of  all  rural 
cities  of  America,  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  Seated  here, 
the  muse  might  well  come  to  him,  who  courted  her. 
Through  a  vista  at  the  left,  a  sheet  of  water  is  seen  which 
lays  its  curved  edges  around  the  neighboring  islands  con- 
spicuous in  the  inner  harbor ;  and  the  city  is  shut  out  by 
the  walls  that  run  above  the  rocks,  which  themselves  ter- 
race off  this  nook  of  fairy  land  for  nature's  wild  roamers, 
who  give  to  her  their  warm  devotions. 

It  is  said  that  our  ship  will  linger  long  at  this  port.  I 
am  glad  that  such  a  retreat  may  be  found ;  and  in  my 
protracted  stay  on  shore  I  am  sure  I  shall  form  a  very 
partial  friendship  for  many  of  these  old  trees,  and  these 
enduring  rocks,  and  winding  path  and  shrub  and  flower. 

There  are,  at  different  points  of  the  garden,  several 
beautiful  views  and  rustic  turrets  of  masonry,  raised  to 
give  the  gazer  a  convenient  view,  and  seats  within  them 
that  would  accommodate  a  small  pic-nic  party  at  a  soft 
hour  of  balmy  day. 

John  Francis  Davies,  Esq.,  a  long  resident  in  the  East, 
and  one  of  its  Oriental  scholars,  has  written  the  following 
Latin  verses  to  the  Cave  of  Camoens.  Among  the  same 
rocks  and  shades  I  read  the  verses  and  pencilled  a  trans- 
lation. 

IN  CAVERNUM 

UBI  CAMOEONS  OPUS  EGKEGIUM  CQMPOSSUISSE  FERTUR. 

Hie,  in  remotis  sol  ubi  rupibus 
Frondes  per  altas  mollius  incidit, 

Fervebat  in  pulcram  camoenam 

Ingenium  Camoentis  ardens : 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  97 

Signum  et  poetse  marmore  lucido 
Spiribat  olim,  carminibus  sacrum 

Pavumque,  quod  vivens  amavit. 

Effigie  decorabat  antrum : 

Sedjam  vetustas,  aut  manus  impia 

Prostravit,  eheu  !     Triste  silentium 
Regnare  nunc  solum  videtur 
Per  scopulos,  verides  et  umbras  ! 

At  fama  nobis  restat — at  inclitum, 
Restat  poetae  nomen — at  ingeni 

Stat  carmen  exemplum  perenne 

^Erea  nee  monumenta  quaerit. 

Sic  usque  Virtus  vincit,  ad  ultiams 
Perducta  fines  temporis,  exitus 

Ridens  sepulchrorum  inanes, 

Marmoriset  celerem  ruinam ! 

Macao,  MDCCCXXXI. 

(TRANSLATION.) 
TO  THE  CAVE, 

WHERE  CAMOENS  IS  SAID  TO  HAVE  WRITTEN  HIS  CELEBRATED  POEM. 

Among  the  recesses  of  the  rock  and  the  shade 
Where  the  sun's  mild  beam  on  the  rich  foliage  played, 
The  genius  of  Camoens,  in  beautiful  verse, 
Poured  forth  its  sweet  strains  which  ages  will  rehearse. 

And  here  the  fair  marble  once  breathed  in  its  grace 
To  tell  of  the  Poet  that  hallowed  the  place, 
And  the  seat  he  loved  most  while  his  eye  yet  was  bright 
Was  known  by  a  bust  in  the  cave's  mellowed  light. 

But  time  with  its  years  hath  betrayed  the  fair  trust, 
And  crumbled  the  rich  marble,  alas  !  to  its  dust, 
And  stillness  now  reigns  profound  as  the  grave 
Through  the  rocks  and  the  shades  of  Camoen's  cave. 

But  the  fame  of  the  Poet  in  brightness  is  streaming, 
And  his  name  on  the  page  of  glory  is  gleaming, 
While  his  works  as  the  models  of  genius  yet  live 
And  seek  not  from  marble  its  praises  to  give. 

Thus  genius  lives  ever  through  time's  crumbling  power, 
Till  ages  shall  cease  to  chronicle  their  hour, 
And  spurns  the  proud  marble  its  praises  to  boast, 
And,  deathless,  yet  triumphs,  when  monuments  are  lost. 


98  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  English  burial-place  is  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  the  garden,  through  which  we  promenaded, 
and  in  which  we  would  willingly  have  longer  lingered ; 
but  we  left  this  scene  of  loveliness  and  flowers  and  life,  for 
one  of  yet  deeper  stillness,  soft  beauty,  and  death.  It  is 
a  spot  like  most  of  the  burial-places  I  have  seen  in  the 
East,  possessing  a  rural  beauty,  and  still-calm  and  green 
richness  and  softness,  which  makes  you  feel  that  if  you 
were  to  die  abroad  you  would  choose  to  be  placed  in  such 
a  spot.  The  grounds  are  small,  a  rectangular  plot  of  half 
an  acre,  with  trees  studding  the  end  and  one  side  of  it, 
and  a  carpet  of  green  grass  overlaying  the  whole  area. 
Here  the  English  residents  and  Protestant  foreigners  are 
interred  when  they  die  at  Macao.  There  was  an  interest 
associated  with  this  ground  to  me  independent  of  its  rural 
beauty,  when  considered  as  occupying  a  place  within  the 
bounds  of  a  circumscribed  city.  There  were  a  few  Amer- 
icans reposing  in  their  last  and  long  sleep  there  ;  and  one, 
though  it  was  not  my  fortune  to  have  been  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  her,  others  of  my  friends  were,  and  I  had 
learned  from  them  to  esteem  the  sweet  qualities  of  her 
amiable  character.  I  saw  her  once  just  previous  to  her 
leaving  America  for  Canton,  with  her  guardian,  in  hopes 
that  the  voyage  would  contribute  to  her  restoration  to 
health.  It  was  otherwise ;  and  now  she  sleeps  beneath 
the  green  sod  and  green  boughs  in  a  tropical  clime ;  and 
her  tombstone  bears  the  following  inscription,  over  which 
the  waving  foliage  fades  not,  as  if  to  emblem  forth  the 
ever  youthful  spirit  of  her  who  has  gone,  with  bright  and 
happy  hopes  of  fadeless  joys  and  a  bright  immortality. 

"  In  memory  of  Elizabeth  McDougal  Gillespie.  Born 
at  New- York,  June  6,  A.  D.  1814.  Died  at  Macao, 
Dec.  6,  A.  D.  1837. 

"  Erected  by  an  affectionate  Guardian  over  the  grave 
of  a  beloved  ward." 

She  sleeps — but  not  beneath  the  deep 
That  mourns  the  sea-dirge  for  its  dead, 

While  low  among  the  tides  they  sweep 
Or  rock  upon  their  coral  bed. 

She  sleeps — but  not  beneath  the  ground 
Where  kindred  dead  lie  near  and  deep, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  99 

And  friends  oft  gather  at  the  mound 
To  think,  and  love,  and  newly  weep. 

She  sleeps — a  gem  from  western  land, 

That  shone  as  ray  of  diamond  light ; 
But  soon  was  lost  on  foreign  strand, 

A  setting  star  in  earliest  night. 

She  sleeps — where  strangers  stop  to  trace 

The  story  of  the  early  dead  ; 
And  one  far- voyager  seeks  her  place 

His  tribute  tear  o'er  worth  to  shed. 

There  are  two  other  monuments  of  the  same  style  as 
the  one  that  covers  the  remains  of  Miss  G.,  constituting, 
with  hers  and  one  other,  a  row  by  themselves.  The  two 
alluded  to,  and  adjacent  to  hers,  bear  the  following  in- 
scriptions : 

"  The  remains  of  EDMOND  ROBERTS,  Esq.,  Special  Di- 
plomatic Agent  of  the  U.  S.  to  several  Asiatic  Courts, 
who  died  at  Macao,  June  12,  1836,  M.  50. 

"  He  devised  and  executed  to  their  end,  under  instruc- 
tions from  his  Government,  Treaties  of  Amity  and  Com- 
merce between  the  U.  S.  and  the  Courts  of  Muscat  and 
Siam." 

"  The  remains  of  ARCHIBALD  S.  CAMPBELL,  Esq,  who 
died  at  Macao,  in  command  of  the  U.  S.  schooner  Enter- 
prise, June  3,  1836,  M.  46. 

"Erected  to  the  memory  of  Lieutenant  Commander 
A.  S.  C.,  by  the  officers  of  the  U.  S.  ship  Peacock  and 
schooner  Enterprise,  1836." 

Arid  here,  unless  this  spot  for  the  sleep  of  the  dead 
shall  prove  unlike  others  which  have  raised  their  voice  for 
their  complement  of  those  we  are  to  leave  on  foreign  shores 
in  our  circuit  of  the  globe,  a  number  of  American  seamen 
from  our  ship  will  form  their  death-row  before  we  shall 
have  left  the  China  seas. 

Commodore  Read  has  taken  up  his  residence  on  the 
Praya  Grande  ;  and  it  is  pretty  certain  that  the  Columbia 
will  remain  at  her  present  anchorage  fora  month  and  more. 
If  the  present  state  of  affairs  continues,  she  will  not  leave 
these  seas  in  twice  that  time. 

I  have  become  very  pleasantly  located  in  the  family  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Shuck,  whose  residence  is  situated  in  one  of 


100  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

• 

the  most  beautiful  parts  of  the  town,  and  directly  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  romantic  garden  already  partially 
described,  and  of  the  English  burial-ground,  two  of  the 
sweetest  rural  spots  in  the  city.  The  large  building  occu- 
pies one  side  of  a  rhornboidal  area,  the  other  three  sides 
being  lined  by  the  church  of  St.  Antonio,  the  gate  of  St. 
Antonio,  the  monastery  or  residence  of  a  number  of  Cath- 
olic priests,  together  with  the  entrance  to  the  English  bu- 
rial place.  The  remaining,  or  fourth  side,  is  fronted  by  the 
large  buildings  of  the  elder  and  younger  Marquise,  two 
Portuguese  gentlemen,  who  are  the  proprietors  of  the  beau- 
tiful grounds  containing  the  cave  of  Camoens. 

Through  the  gate  of  St.  Antonio  most  of  the  Chinese 
funeral  processions  pass  for  the  interment  of  the  bodies 
among  the  hills  that  rise  so  majestically  without  the  walls 
of  the  city,  and  between  two  of  which,  on  the  northwest- 
ern part  of  the  city,  lies  the  Campo,  stretching  through  the 
deep  defile,  and  forming  the  favorite  walk  for  the  foreign- 
ers, more  particularly  when  the  sun  has  fallen  so  that  the 
rays  are  cut  off  by  the  high  range  of  the  hills  on  either 
side  of  the  ravine.  Here,  at  an  hour  by  sunset,  you  may 
see  the  little  groups  of  the  English  and  Americans  and  the 
Portuguese,  strolling,  (though  the  Praya  Grande  appears  to 
be  the  more  favorite  resort  of  the  Portuguese,)  or  in  single 
couples  they  dot  the  different  paths  as  so  many  specks  in 
relief  with  the  high  hills  that  surround  them,  or,  perhaps, 
up  one  of  which  they  may  be  winding,  lady  and  gentle- 
man alike  having  deposited  their  hats  at  their  homes, 
as  useless  encumbrances  in  this  climate,  at  this  balmy 
hour,  but  as  a  substitute,  the  one  with  a  fan,  the  other  with 
his  staff  in  hand.  And  here  one  is  almost  certain  of  meet- 
ing one's  friend,  if  he  will  stroll  to  the  Campo  at  the  sun- 
set hour.  It  is  a  welcome  breathing  spot,  after  the  heat 
of  the  day,  and  the  influence  of  the  pure  air,  and  the  cool 
breeze,  and  the  soft  sky,  give  a  sweeter  expression  to  the 
smile  of  one's  friend,  and  additional  ingenuousness  to  the 
cordial  welcome  at  the  meeting. 

I  took  the  circuit  of  the  mount,  on  the  high  top  of  which 
is  theinwalled  and  picturesque  Hermitage  of  Guia.  The 
mount  separates  the  Campo  from  the  sea,  and  the  path  of 
the  Campo,  winding  through  the  ravine,  turns  to  the  right 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  101 

and  reaches  the  beach,  from  which  you  have  a  view  of  the 
far-out  shipping  that  lie  at  their  moorings  in  the  Roads. 
From  this  point,  there  is  a  path  along  the  mountain-side  by 
which  one  may  return  rather  than  by  the  path  of  the  Cam- 
po,  if  one  wishes  a  rougher  walk  as  a  variety  and  for 
greater  exercise.  And  this  path,  winding  around  this 
conical  hill,  and  passing  between  a  notch  of  the  mountain, 
again  descends  the  declivity  to  the  path  of  the  Campo.  It 
was  already  near  sundown  when  we  reached  this  notch  in 
the  mountain  which  divides  the  same  into  two  conical  hills  ; 
and  the  pass  lies  at  a  near  point  immediately  beneath  the 
little  church  or  hermitage  above.  It  was  a  soft  hour  as  we 
neared  the  level  of  the  Campo,  and  others  were  enjoying 
it  as  they  were  promenading  the  rural  path,  or  reclining 
upon  the  green  area  that  spreads  itself  in  the  ravine.  The 
bell  of  the  hermitage  on  the  mount  now  struck  its  farewell 
to  the  sun,  seen  at  this  moment  from  its  wall  to  give  back 
its  last  ray  from  its  upper  edge.  Two  young  priests  were 
lounging  in  their  long  black  gowns  and  triangular  hats  on 
the  green  sward  near  us.  They  rose  at  the  stroke  of  the 
sundown  bell  of  the  hermitage,  both  reverently  uncovered, 
crossed  themselves,  and  again  threw  themselves  upon  the 
green  turf. 

The  display  of  radiants  on  the  deep-blue  sky  at  this  sun- 
set hour  was  peculiar.  I  have  never  marked  a  similar  ex- 
hibition in  other  than  the  climate  of  these  seas,  and  at  this 
place  I  have  marked  it  with  interest  as  a  peculiar  and  here 
not  unfrequent  beauty.  A  point  of  the  west  sends  forth 
its  streams  of  the  most  delicate  pink,  and  saffron,  and  car- 
mine, radiant  from  a  common  centre,  as  they  lay  their  di- 
vergent beams  on  the  loveliest  and  softest  sky-blue  that  ever 
formed  a  cerulean  field  for  colors  to  contrast  themselves 
upon.  These  elongated  and  rectilinear  beams  to-night 
diverged  from  each  other  as  they  rose  from  their  lowest 
common  point  in  the  horizon,  till  their  rising  and  evanescent 
layers,  spreading  and  blending,  formed  a  soft  and  commin- 
gled light  of  all  their  colors,  nearly  in  the  zenith  of  the 
beholder.  Such  was  the  soft  display  of  nature  this  even- 
ing as  we  passed  several  of  our  friends,  while  we  were 
leaving  the  Campo  for  a  cup  of  tea  which  was  awaiting 
our  return.  And  the  tea-table  we  found  set  on  the  top  of 


102  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

a  spacious  terrace,  with  a  bright  moon  and  bright  stars 
looking  down  from  their  pure  halls  above  us,  as  we  gath- 
ered to  our  seats.  It  was  an  Oriental  scene,  enjoyed  in  the 
improved  way  and  conveniences  of  American  arrange- 
ment. The  stars  never  scintillated  more  beautifully  than 
to-night.  And  we  marked  as  we  gazed  at  the  southern 
cross,  and  saw  by  a  simple  change  the  polar  star  in  the 
opposite  direction,  that,  what  is  sometimes  affirmed  is  not 
true,  like  many  other  confidently  asserted  things,  namely, 
that  there  is  no  single  point  of  the  globe  from  which  this 
constellation  of  the  southern  cross  and  the  north  star  may, 
each  at  the  same  moment,  be  seen.  And  lyra,  that  blue 
twinkling  brilliant,  high  up  above  us,  in  a  few  hours  more 
will  hang  perpendicularly  over  our  western  homes.  We 
would  be  glad  to  give  it  a  message.  But  it  may  not  be — • 
it  may  not  be  ; — yet  I  know  not  but  there  are  eyes  there 
that  will  read  it  and  think  of  those  half  a  world's  circum- 
ference distant  from  them. 

Last  evening  I  visited  at  Mr.  G.'s.  Found  him  and  his 
lady  promenading  on  the  open  terraces  of  the  garden,  a 
spacious  area  of  ground,  overlooking  most  of  the  south  west- 
ern part  of  the  city,  and  commanding  a  full  view  of  the 
inner  harbor,  the  green  and  adjacent  isles,  and  the  high 
grounds  on  the  south  of  the  town.  It  is  an  elevated  and 
charming  promenade,  this  terrace  of  the  garden  ;  and  the 
establishment  itself  is  one  of  the  most  imposing  of  the  city. 
The  terraces  rise  one  above  another ;  and  the  high  walls, 
to  form  the  level  of  what  may  be  deemed  hanging  gar- 
dens, are  reached  by  granite  steps — the  whole  presenting 
a  position  admirable  for  defence  in  a  feudal  age  or  times  of 
revolution.  The  spacious  ruins  around,  of  olden  associa- 
tions, where  the  thick  walls  and  private  and  secret  passa- 
ges of  monastery  and  fortification  are  seen,  and  the  crum- 
bled buildings  of  the  Jesuits,  once  splendid  and  massive, 
stood,  now  afford  abundant  material  for  romance.  The 
ruins  of  St.  Paul's  are  still  standing,  and  its  front  forms  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  specimens  of  architectural  interest 
to  be  found  in  the  city.  The  church  was  founded  by  the 
Jesuits  ;  and  the  inscription  on  the  corner-stone  of  the  re- 
maining walls  carries  back  the  erection  of  the  building  to 
1662.  "Virgini  magnae  matri,  ci vitas  macaensis  lubens, 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  103 

Pasuit.  An.  1662."  This  venerable  structure  was  con- 
sumed by  fire  in  1834.  The  front  still  stands,  with  its 
chiselled  decorations  of  saints  who  have  gone  through  the 
literal  ordeal  of  fire  with  but  partial  blackening ;  and  the 
walls  being  repaired,  the  whole  has  been  turned  into  a 
very  respectable  and  very  neat  cemetery.  Niches  rise 
one  above  the  other,  occupying  the  inner  sides  of  the  walls 
as  vaults.  A  terrace  extends  quite  around  the  inner  side 
of  the  building,  supported  by  the  walls  and  the  columns 
within.  At  the  inner  end  of  the  cemetery  is  a  small  chapel, 
containing  an  altar,  with  an  iron  grating  in  front,  through 
which  the  eye  contemplates  a  delineation  of  purgatory  on 
the  inner  wall,  representing  a  number  of  spirits  in  different 
attitudes  escaping  from  the  purifying  flames — some  half- 
way relieved,  another  with  the  whole  body  escaped  with 
the  exception  of  a  single  foot ;  and  another  with  an  angel's 
hand  triumphantly  bearing  him  above  ;  while  still  other 
sister  spirits  are  extending  their  aid  to  the  sufferers  below, 
and  almost  but  not  quite  reach  their  elevated  and  extended 
hands.  Within  the  adjacent  grounds,  so  late  as  the  pres- 
ent year,  I  am  informed  that  the  governor  has  caused  exca- 
vations to  be  made,  in  consequence  of  a  traditional  impres- 
sion, which  it  is  supposed  has  been  handed  down  on  very 
good  authority,  that  the  Jesuits  buried  large  treasures  at  the 
time  of  their  downfall  and  the  sequestering  of  their  estates. 
The  earth,  yet  retaining  its  freshness  of  excavation,  is  seen 
near  the  walls  of  this  once  magnificent  building  ;  but  what 
has  been  done  only  shows  that  enterprise  was  wanting  to 
develop  the  money  even  if  the  treasure  is  there,  beyond 
the  labor  that  has  already  been  expended.  A  private  band 
of  villagers  in  our  own  land,  have  dug  deeper  and  wider 
for  the  deposited  ingots  of  Captain  Kyd. 

We  retired  from  the  terraces  of  the  garden  to  the  house 
at  the  dusk  of  twilight,  when  tea  was  served.  One  of  the 
nieces  of  Mrs.  G.  came  in  from  her  evening  walk.  Carna- 
tion was  glowing  on  her  cheeks  in  deepness,  and  so  blend- 
ing with  the  lily  of  her  complexion,  that  it  made  her  an 
object  of  interest  as  a  fine  specimen  of  that  Anglo-German 
style  of  face,  so  unlike  the  dark  brunettes,  and  yet  darker- 
shaded  faces,  on  which  our  eyes  have  so  long  been  linger- 
ing. She  gave  us  music  in  the  evening.  As  she  sat  at  the 

36 


104  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

piano-forte,  her  wide  brow  of  marble  and  luxuriant  ring- 
lets flowing  in  negligence  and  abundance  on  a  neck  of 
Parian,  and  the  large  deep-blue  eye,  and  lip  that  the  free 
and  young  blood  dyed  in  coral,  made  her  appear  like  a  fine 
specimen  of  a  German  princess,  worthy  of  the  throne  of 
England. 

"Americans  always  do  things  so  finely,"  said  Mr.  G., 
when  alluding  to  some  particulars  connected  with  the  navy. 
Americans  do  things  very  ungracefully,  often,  I  thought, 
when  they  are  unwilling  to  reciprocate  a  compliment  in 
praise  of  what  is  really  meritorious  in  England,  or  would 
wish  to  find  fault  with  that  which  is  uncensurable. 

With  the  symphony  of  "  I  call  on  the  spirits  of  the  past" 
full  in  my  memory,  I  left  the  little  coterie,  with  a  polite 
invitation  to  attend  a  musical  party  the  succeeding  evening, 
to  which  invitations  to  some  others  should  be  extended, 
they  said,  particularly  on  my  account,  presuming,  with 
accuracy,  on  my  love  of  music. 

The  authorities  at  Canton  seem  to  be  slackening  their 
surveillance  a  little,  or,  at  least,  are  behaving  a  little  more 
becomingly,  as  gentlemen,  and  have  permitted  our  letters 
to  come  down  from  Canton.  It  is  as  I  thought  it  would 
be  with  my  kind  friends  at  home ;  and  a  real  U.  S.  mail 
has  been  awaiting  me.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  receive 
between  forty  and  fifty  letters,  and  papers  piled  like  Alps 
o'er  Alps,  in  the  number  of  packages  my  friends  were  so 
thoughtful  as  to  send  me  ;  and  all  good  news.  I  was 
thankful ;  and  spent  the  night  in  wakeful  communion  with 
my  friends,  as  I  read  through  their  many  epistles.  I  am 
sure  if  those  at  home  could  but  partially  realize  the  exult- 
ation which  our  officers  manifest,  and  the  happiness  they 
experience  on  the  reception  of  letters  when  abroad,  they 
would  be  considerate  in  securing  every  opportunity  in  for- 
warding letters  to  meet  them. 

The  situation  of  my  own  friends  at  New- York  has 
enabled  them  to  avail  themselves  of  many  opportunities 
of  forwarding  letters.  But  other  officers  of  the  ship  have 
found  the  advantage  of  the  existence  of  the  Naval  Lyceum 
at  Brooklyn  Navy-Yard,  a  most  worthy  institution,  which 
will  be  justly  appreciated,  and  valuable  as  it  advances  in 
its  action  and  continuance.  Persons  from  any  part  of  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  105 

Union,  sending  letters  to  their  friends  in  the  Navy  who 
are  abroad,  will  have  them  particularly  looked  after  and 
forwarded  by  the  first  opportunity,  if  sent  to  the  Naval 
Lyceum.  The  information  possessed  of  the  destination 
of  foreign  squadrons,  where  the  ships  are  expected  to 
touch,  and  what  vessels  are  sailing  from  the  port  of  New- 
York,  or  other  ports  of  the  United  States  for  those  places, 
gives  the  officer  who  is  in  particular  charge  of  the  duty 
of  forwarding  letters  sent  to  the  Lyceum,  peculiar  fa- 
cilities for  despatching  them  to  foreign  ports.  Of  course, 
these  letters,  if  sent  by  the  mail,  to  the  care  of  the  Ly- 
ceum at  the  Navy- Yard,  Brooklyn,  should  be  post-paid : 
the  institution  gratuitously  forwarding  these  letters,  should 
not  be  burdened  with  the  postage  in  the  United  States. 

SERVICE    IN    THE    ENGLISH    CHAPEL. 

Yesterday,  it  being  Sunday,  I  preached  in  the  English 
chapel.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Vachel,  chaplain  to  the  queen's 
commission  here,  is  now  absent,  on  account  of  his  health, 
on  a  visit  or  permanent  return  to  England.  The  chapel 
is  quite  neatly  fitted  up,  and  sufficiently  large  for  the 
foreign  community  at  Macao.  The  number  of  the  foreign- 
ers here  is  larger  at  this  time  than  usual,  in  consequence 
of  the  difficulties  at  Canton,  and  expected  daily  to  be  con- 
siderably increased  by  the  arrival  of  all  the  English  mer- 
chants and  the  government  officers,  with  the  Americans, 
who  it  is  said  will  leave  the  city  when  Captain  Elliot,  the 
English  superintendent  of  trade,  shall  retire  from  the  city 
to  Macao. 

In  the  services  of  the  chapel  I  read  the  prayers,  and  I 
am  sure  I  very  sincerely  offered  the  petition  for  her  Bri- 
tannic Majesty,  Victoria,  Britain's  most  gracious  queen 
and  governor.  Whenever  I  had  previously  preached  in 
the  English  chapels,  the  chaplain,  being  present,  has  read 
the  service.  Surely  there  are  interests  enough  that  are 
mutual  in  the  common  welfare  of  England  and  America, 
not  only  to  make  the  subjects  of  the  one  and  the  citizens 
of  the  other  sincerely  to  wish  the  happiness  of  the  rulers 
of  both  nations,  but  also  devoutly  to  pray  that  they  may 
alike  be  guided  so  as  to  preserve  the  harmony  and  the 


106  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

prosperity  of  each  government.  The  interests  of  the  one, 
when  viewed  in  connection  with  those  general  and  just 
principles  of  political  economy  which  are  becoming  more 
universally  understood,  and  aggrandizing  the  age,  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  the  ultimate  interests  of  the  other. 
The  politician,  who  legislates  merely  or  principally  for 
some  immediate  advantage  of  his  own  times,  is  unworthy 
a  seat  in  the  councils  of  his  country.  The  greatest  ulti- 
mate good  of  the  nation, — and  of  the  world,  if  you  add 
the  character  of  the  Christian  to  the  politician,— is  the 
inquiry  that  should  guide  the  enlightened  and  liberal 
mind.  Washington  acted  with  such  a  forecast ;  and 
Hamilton,  by  wHom  the  country  was  retrieved  from  debt 
and  placed  on  her  highway  to  national  respect  and  prow- 
ess. And  England  has  many  a  bright  name  to  class 
among  the  philanthropic  legislators  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. 

In  the  evening  I  heard  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shuck  preach  at 
the  house  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Browne,  where,  on 
Sunday  evenings,  it  is  usual  for  the  American  missionaries 
at  this  place  to  have  service,  and,  in  turn,  to  officiate. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Abeel,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bridgman  and  Dr. 
Parker  are  at  Canton.  The  two  former,  at  least,  are  ex- 
pected to  return  to  Macao,  as  soon  as  the  foreign  com- 
munity leave  Canton.  Mr.  Williams,  connected  with  the 
printing  establishment  of  the  mission  here,  (a  young  gen- 
tleman of  worth,)  I  have  also  met.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Ro- 
berts, and  Mr.  Young,  Baptist  licenciate  from  Batavia,  are 
also  resident  at  Macao.  Mrs.  Browne  and  Mrs.  Shuck 
are  the  only  missionary  ladies  from  America  at  Macao. 

Mr.  King  having  reached  Macao  in  the  morning,  I  was 
introduced  to  him  after  the  services  this  evening;  and 
having  learned  of  our  mutual  acquaintances,  I  was  glad 
to  meet  him. 

He  is  a  young  gentleman  of  intelligence  and  liberal 
principles  ;  and,  with  the  house  to  which  he  is  attached, 
has  taken  a  decided  stand  against  the  trafficking  in  opium. 
His  estimate  of  the  Chinese  character  is  higher  than  others 
rate  it  in  the  scale  of  morality  and  intellect  and  enterprise. 
It  is  natural  that  his  course,  with  so  many  opposing  inter- 
ests in  commerce,  against  which,  with  great  independence, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          107 

the  house  of  Oliphant,  King,  and  Company  seem  to  have 
acted,  should  have  awakened  some  jealousies.  But  the 
result  of  the  measures  of  the  Chinese  government  will 
place  the  cause  which  Mr.  K.  has  advocated  triumphant 
in  the  end,  as  all  liberal-minded  men,  wherever  they  may 
think  their  interests  lie,  must  acknowledge  to  be  the  de- 
sirable course  of  events,  in  -connection  with  the  opium 
trade,  which  has  impoverished  thousands,  and  threatened 
the  destruction  of  a  nation,  for  the  private  emolument  of 
a  few  individuals  and  corporations. 

I  have  read  the  views  of  Mr.  K.  in  connection  with 
the  establishment  of  a  consulate  general  at  Macao  with 
vice  consulates  for  other  positions  corresponding  with  the 
different  European  powers  holding  settlements  in  the  East. 
For  example,  a  consul  for  the  Spanish  possessions  should 
be  located  at  Manilla ;  one  for  the  Dutch  possessions  at 
Batavia ;  another  at  Singapore ;  and  another  at  Siam. 
The  consuls  at  these  stations  severally  to  report  to  the 
consul-general  at  Macao,  who  also  should  be  the  consul 
to  the  Chinese  empire,  and  make  reports  of  the  different 
consulates  to  the  general  government.  And  that  this 
general  establishment  for  the  East  may  be  honorable  to 
the  government  of  the  U.  S.  and  efficient  in  promoting 
and  protecting  its  interests  of  commerce  and  trade,  the 
consuls  should  be  officers  with  fixed  salaries,  sufficient  to 
raise  them  above  the  necessities  of  their  engaging  in  trade. 

No  one  familiar  with  the  East  and  the  interests  of 
American  commerce  in  these  seas  but  will  at  once  see 
the  utility  of  such  an  establishment,  and  its  practicability. 
Its  expense,  even  with  a  liberal  allowance  to  the  consuls, 
would  be  a  saving  to  the  government,  and  give  it  a  credit 
abroad  which  would  be  honorable  to  that  administration 
which  shall  carry  such  a  measure  into  execution. 

I  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Browne,  Monday  evening, 
at  Mr.  King's.  It  was  a  very  agreeable  tete-a-tete  to  re- 
view home  scenes  with  Mrs.  B.  Two  of  her  brothers 
were  university  acquaintances  of  myself,  and  she  left  the 
United  States  after  the  sailing  of  our  ships.  We  wan- 
dered together,  in  imagination  and  review,  through  many 
a  town  and  village,  and  rested  a  good  long  while  in  that 
exquisite  specimen  of  rus  in  urbe,  or  rather,  urbs  in  rure, 

36* 


108          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

which  makes  the  elm-embowered  city  of  NEW  HAVEN 
without  a  rival,  for  its  rural  pleasantness  and  beauty. 
Who  that  has  ever  moved  at  moonlight  among  its  groves 
— who  that,  at  the  evening  hour  as  the  sunset  sent  athwart 
the  city  its  level  beams  flooding  the  elm-tops  of  the  city 
in  layers  of  gold,  has  threaded  its  streets  thus  arched  with 
domes  of  golden  foliage,  supported  by  Corinthian  shafts  of 
nature  though  ranged  in  Gothic  arch — who  that  has  there 
watched  the  sunset  scenes,  rivalled  nowhere  else  in  the 
world,  so  far  as  I  have  seen  them — who  that  has  mingled 
in  its  circles  of  cultivated  and  refined  and  modest  minds, 
chastened  by  their  high  appreciation  of  literature,  morality, 
and  religion,  but  will  pause  enchanted  at  the  mention  of 
thy  name,  beautiful,  blest,  beloved  NEW  HAVEN  ? 

I've  roamed  among  the  flowery  isles  afar, 

And  strolled,  at  night,  'neath  west  and  eastern  star ; 

And  I  have  loved  the  moon-lit  scene  in  grove, 

On  lake,  and  where  the  throngs  of  cities  move  ; 

And  where  the  streams  of  lighted  avenue 

Their  glare  on  palms  and  cloves  and  mangoes  threw ; 

And  where  the  fair  ones  of  a  gentler  clime 

Unveiled,  when  bells  of  latest  vespers  chime, 

Are  seen  to  tread  upon  their  verdant  walk 

To  court  the  breeze  and  sport  the  evening  talk  :— 

But  not  within  the  range  of  this  wide  world, 

(Roamed  I  the  regions  of  the  New  or  Old,) 

Have  I  such  moon-lit  glory  elsewhere  known 

As  I  have  seen  around  those  temples  thrown, 

Where  Art  and  Nature  join  to  render  blest 

This  loved,  THIS  RURAL  CITY  OF  THE  WEST. 

I  have  visited  with  interest  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Squire 
and  lady,  from  Plymouth,  England.  Mr.  S.  is  some  way 
connected  with  the  English  society  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel,  and  is  in  the  East  to  convey  home  to  the  society 
the  information  it  may  need  to  enable  it  judiciously  to 
make  its  selections  for  the  stations  of  its  laborers. 

Mrs.  S.  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  George  Harvey,  of 
literary  titles  and  of  literary  fame.  He  is  the  writer  of 
several  articles  published  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Metropoli 
tana,  a  work  of  great  merit  I  understand,  and  extent,  but 
whether  yet  completed  I  am  not  informed.  It  was  a  mat- 
ter of  gratification  to  look  over  the  volumes  possessed  by 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  109 

Mrs.  S.,  containing  very  beautiful  specimens  of  plates  il- 
lustrating the  articles  on  meteorology,  many  of  them  done 
from  sketches  by  her  own  pencil.  And  then,  it  was 
amusing  to  hear  some  playful  anecdote  associated  with 
the  drawing  of  that  tree,  which  is  a  portrait — that  notch 
in  the  hill — that  mystic  fold  in  the  sheet  of  that  cloud — 
that  globule  of  rain  that  has  descended  from  the  nimbus 
or  the  cumulus — that  old-fashioned  ship,  that  was  standing 
in  by  the  breakwater ;  and  that  unique  Spanish  craft  which 
had  somehow  wandered  to  the  neighborhood ;  and  then 
as  another  leaf  was  turned,  to  mark  the  angles  in  the  flake 
of  snow  or  the  mosaic  of  the  hoar-frost,  taken  from  the 
window  pane  of  the  parlor,  or  the  antique  glass  of  that 
old  church,  about  which  many  a  ghost  story  has  been  told. 
How  estimable,  we  justly  think,  is  that  family,  where 
science,  and  taste,  and  affection  prevail !  No  ennui,  list- 
lessness,  and  insipidity,  hath  to  do  in  such  a  circle.  In  the 
education  of  his  several  daughters,  the  father  of  Mrs.  S. 
directed  that  one  should  pay  her  attention  particularly  to 
music,  another  to  drawing,  another  to  painting,  thus  ren- 
dering each  skilful  in  her  own  department,  and  introdu- 
cing into  the  family  a  variety  of  accomplishments,  that 
would  not  tire,  and  by  consequence  afford  the  greater 
happiness  to  the  whole  circle. 

In  the  little  incidents  of  pleasure  and  disappointments 
which  Mrs.  S.  narrated  to  me  as  associated  with  these 
beautiful  plates,  the  scenes  of  which  were  all  taken  from 
the  neighborhood  of  her  home,  and  sketched  at  her  fa- 
ther's, I  thought  how  much  was  lost  as  we  gaze  on  the 
beautiful  in  art,  in  the  absence  of  the  story  of  its  progress, 
and  its  midst,  and  its  ending.  Often — how  often  !  could 
we  learn  the  whole  of  the  poor  artist's  story  as  he  spent 
his  hours  over  the  print  we  admire,  would  the  tears  flood 
our  own  eyes.  And  again,  in  tracing  the  history  of  other 
pieces,  which  have  been  the  result  of  indulging  a  taste 
and  accomplishment  possessed,  and  contributing  pleasure 
from  its  conception  to  its  perfection,  how  would  our  own 
feelings  often  kindle,  could  we  know  of  some  of  the  inci- 
dents and  feelings  that  attended  the  artist ;  and  luxuriate, 
as  we  traced  the  combinations  of  real  life  with  the  scenes 
of  the  fictitious  !  We  know  that  we  are  delighted  with 


110          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  beautiful,  and  appreciate  with  most  acceptable  feelings 
the  effect  of  the  combinations  in  a  perfect  painting.  But 
how  those  feelings  would  be  augmented,  did  we  know  how 
many  hearts,  and  why  they  gushed  amid  those  scenes  de- 
scribed— or  that  beat  with  kindred  feelings  of  love  and 
sentiment  with  our  own  when  gazing  on  the  same  view — 
or  sighed  or  smiled  over  the  same  prospect.  Surely  do  I 
think,  if  this  description  meets  the  eye  of  this  amiable  lady, 
she  will  remember  the  hour  so  agreeable  to  myself,  in 
which  she  narrated  the  little  domestic  incidents  connected 
with  the  sketches  of  her  porte-feuille,  and  the  soft  and 
beautiful  prints  of  the  Encyclopedia. 
After  prayers  I  took  my  leave. 

WOMAN. 

Conversation  is  the  source  of  the  greatest  happiness  of 
a  social  and  rational  being.  And  there  can  be  few  plea- 
sures more  unalloyed  than  man  derives  from  the  conver- 
sation of  an  intelligent  woman.  And  there  is  nothing  that 
sooner  disgusts  the  virtuous  mind  than  to  listen  to  a  cant 
that  often  prevails  among  some  circles  of  the  other  sex,  to 
the  disparagement  of  the  female  character.  Where  I  hear 
it,  I  stay  not  to  argue  as  to  the  elements  of  the  character 
of  the  coterie  that  will  allow  it,  or  the  qualities  of  that 
heart  that  can  be  pleased  with  the  trifling  and  dispara- 
ging remark,  as  associated  with  the  female  sex,  to  the 
wreathing  of  the  lip  with  a  smile  of  satisfaction.  It  is  to 
woman,  society  owes  its  highest  refinements  and  softest 
civilities.  The  virtuous,  and  honorable,  and  high-minded 
bearing  of  every  community,  is  measured  by  the  tone  of 
sentiment  with  which  woman  is  regarded.  The  chivalric 
age,  when  man  would  peril  life  for  woman  as  freely  as 
courses  the  blood  in  his  veins,  and  when  her  defence  was 
a  profession,  was  a  virtuous  age.  And  the  nations  of  the 
world  are  characterized  for  their  civilization,  general  in- 
telligence, delicacy  of  feeling,  liberty,  and  perhaps  prowess, 
in  proportion  as  they  are  observed  to  treat  the  female  sex 
with  deference,  hold  their  personal  rights  in  consideration, 
and  accord  to  them  freedom  in  action,  and  unrestrained 
intercourse  in  social  life.  And  there  is  nothing  that  speaks 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORL^.  Ill 

more  in  compliment  of  the  American  people,  and  assuredly 
declares  their  advance  in  the  dignity  and  moral  worth  of 
a  mighty  and  a  Christian  nation,  than  the  deferential  re- 
spect with  which  they  regard  the  female  sex.  And  he 
has  been  but  a  slight  observer  of  mankind  who  does  not 
consider  them,  though  the  weaker,  the  better  half  of  the 
world,  in  all  that  is  kind,  benevolent,  refined,  and  holy. 

It  is  a  beautiful  paragraph  in  the  works  of  Ledyard,  the 
indefatigable,  and,  to  fame,  immortal  traveller,  in  which, 
he  speaks  of  woman,  as  he  has  seen  her  in  all  quarters  of 
the  globe.  It  makes  one  love  his  memory,  saying  every 
thing  as  it  does  for  the  excellency  of  his  heart ;  and  to  the 
critic  in  literature,  presents  a  specimen  of  almost  the  per- 
fect in  style.  He  says  : 

"  I  have  observed,  among  all  nations,  that  the  women 
ornament  themselves  more  than  the  men ;  that  wherever 
found,  they  are  the  same  kind,  civil,  obliging,  humane,  ten- 
der beings ;  that  they  are  ever  inclined  to  be  gay  and 
cheerful,  timorous  and  modest.  They  do  not  hesitate,  like 
men,  to  perform  a  hospitable  or  generous  action ;  not 
haughty,  nor  arrogant,  nor  superstitious ;  industrious,  eco- 
nomical, ingenuous ;  more  liable  in  general  to  err  than  man, 
but  in  general  also  more  virtuous  and  performing  more 
good  actions  than  he.  I  never  addressed  myself  in  the 
language  of  decency  and  friendship  to  woman,  whether 
civilized  or  savage,  without  receiving  a  decent  and  friend- 
ly answer ;  with  men  it  has  often  been  otherwise. 

"  In  walking  over  the  barren  plains  of  inhospitable  Den- 
mark, through  honest  Sweden,  frozen  Lapland,  rude  and 
churlish  Finland,  unprincipled  Russia,  and  the  wide-spread 
regions  of  the  wandering  Tartar,  if  hungry,  dry,  cold,  wet 
or  sick,  woman  has  ever  been  friendly  to  me,  and  uniform- 
ly so  ;  and  to  add  to  this  virtue,  so  worthy  of  the  appella- 
tion of  benevolence,  these  actions  have  been  performed  in 
so  free,  and  so  kind  a  manner,  that,  if  I  was  dry  I  drank 
the  sweet  draught,  and  if  hungry,  ate  the  sweet  morsel 
with  a  double  relish." 

Sunday,  May  26th,  I  again  preached  in  the  English 
chapel,  and  administered  the  communion.  As  most  of  the 
foreigners  had  reached  Macao  from  Canton  during  the 
week,  the  house  was  well  filled,  and  the  number  of  persons 


112  A    VOYAGE    AROtT  THE    WORLD. 

who  communed  was  greater  than  I  had  anticipated.  The 
communion,  in  the  absence  of  the  chaplain,  not  having 
been  administered  for  some  time,  the  services  seemed  to 
gain  additional  interest  to  those  who  were  present.  And 
it  certainly  was  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  unite  with  my 
English  friends  of  the  same  creed,  in  the  services  common 
to  the  American  and  the  English  mother  church.  The 
prayers  of  the  morning  service  were  read  by  Mr.  Stanton, 
a  student  of  Cambridge,  who  is  now  preparing  for  orders, 
and  who,  in  the  absence  of  the  chaplain,  usually  reads  a 
sermon  to  the  congregation  on  the  Sabbath. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  I  attended  a  Bible 
class  at  Mr.  Squire's,  where  1  met  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Bridg- 
man  and  Abeel,  who,  having  reached  Macao  Saturday 
night,  were  at  the  services  at  the  English  chapel  in  the 
morning,  together  with  the  other  American  missionaries, 
resident  here.  At  the  Bible  class  were  also  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brown  and  lady,  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Stanton.  Mr.  Mor- 
rison, son  of  the  late  Doctor  Morrison,  and  first  interpreter 
to  her  Majesty's  commission,  came  in,  having  arrived  from 
Canton,  with  Captain  Elliot  and  others,  during  the  morning. 

After  tea,  I  accompanied  Mr.  Squire  to  the  missionaries' 
services  of  the  evening  at  Mr.  Browne's,  where  a  number 
of  the  residents  and  all  the  missionaries  usually  attend,  on 
Sunday  evening.  I  heard  the  Rev.  Mr.  Browne,  and  was 
glad  to  listen  to  an  exposition  of  the  moral  government  of 
God,  that  relieves  his  benevolence  and  mercy  from  charges 
sometimes  brought  against  it,  by  showing  that  the  present 
system  of  God's  government  is  the  best  possible  to  him  as  a 
Ruler  over  free  moral  beings,  and  the  best  conceivable,  if 
these  free  moral  beings  had  acted  their  part,  as  their  inte- 
rests and  their  obligations  of  duty  suggested. 

I  called  at  Captain  Elliot's  on  Monday  morning,  Com- 
modore Read  and  Captain  Wyman  making  a  call  at  the 
same  hour. 

CAPTAIN    ELLIOT    AND    CHINESE    AFFAIRS. 

Captain  Elliot  is  the  British  superintendent  of  trade 
here,  empowered  by  her  Majesty's  government  with  cer- 
tain authority,  the  extent  of  which,  in  the  secrecy  with 
which  he  keeps  his  instructions,  it  is  impossible  to  know : 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          113 

but,  as  occasion  requires,  the  decision  with  which  he  acts, 
and  the  responsibility  he  assumes,  declare  that  his  powers 
are  equal  to  any  exigency  .which  has  yet  occurred.  And 
he  affirms  that  his  instructions  are  full ;  and  when  occasion 
requires  it  they  shall  be  known.  He  has  assumed  the  re- 
sponsibility of  requiring  from  the  English  captains  the 
delivery  of  opium,  to  the  amount  of  some  millions  of  dol- 
lars in  value,  for  which  the  English  government  becomes 
the  debtor ;  and  through  him,  as  its  agent,  it  is  surrendered 
to  the  Chinese  authorities,  according  to  the  demand  of 
the  Chinese  government,  as  the  condition  of  the  liberation 
of  the  foreigners  held  imprisoned  at  Canton.  The  amount 
has  now  been  surrendered,  and  the  foreigners  are  mostly 
in  Macao  beyond  the  further  power  of  the  Chinese,  while 
the  trade  is  again  opened,  on  certain  conditions,  into  which 
the  captains  of  the  ships  are  to  enter.  The  English  will 
not  accept  these  conditions.  The  Americans  may  play 
their  part  differently,  as  their  present  interests  lead  them 
to  secure  their  home  cargoes. 

A  crisis  evidently  has  come  ;  and  it  will  depend  upon 
the  will  of  the  English  government,  in  a  good  degree,  as 
to  what  that  crisis  shall  develop.  If  the  ministry  now  in 
power  continue  to  hold  their  places,  it  is  presumed  that 
Captain  Elliot  will  be  sustained  in  the  course  he  has  pur- 
sued ;  and  that  England  will  demand  the  restitution  of  an 
equivalent  for  the  opium  delivered,  with  expenses  and  in- 
juries received  by  the  detention  of  the  English  ships,  and 
every  other  real  or  supposed  damage  received.  And  the 
Chinese  government  refusing  to  liquidate  the  amount,  will 
thus  afford  to  the  English  a  sufficient  pretext,  real  or  ima- 
ginary, for  the  declaration  of  war,  the  conquest  of  the 
island  of  Formosa  or  some  other  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Furkeen,  the  tea  province,  and  reprisals  be  made  on  the 
commerce  of  the  Chinese  coast.  The  ultimate  end  of  all 
measures  to  be,  the  securing  a  foothold  in  the  Chinese  em- 
pire, and  to  effect  a  treaty  with  its  government. 

But  all  this  is  yet  to  be  developed.  The  progress  of 
the  drama,  in  its  first  act  and  several  scenes,  is  long,  even 
so  far  only  as  it  has  already  advanced,  and  would  occupy 
some  pages  to  be  repeated  here,  in  the  quotations  of  docu- 
ments which  have  passed  between  the  Chinese  commis- 
sioner and  Captain  Elliot  on  the  part  of  the  British  gov- 


114  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ernmont,  and  others,  who,  at  Canton,  represent  other  for- 
eign powers.  So  far,  however,  as  the  subject  is  connect- 
ed with  our  detention  here,  and  the  presentation  of  the 
points  in  agitation  and  dispute  between  the  Chinese  and 
the  foreigners  are  concerned,  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  a 
statement  and  documents,  briefly  as  possible,  further  on, 
for  the  full  understanding  of  the  merits  and  the  difficulties 
of  the  circumstances,  in  which  the  parties  are  placed  in 
relation  to  each  other.* 

Captain  Elliot  is  a  gentleman  of  great  ingenuousness  of 
manners.  Too  frank,  some  would  think  him,  for  a  diplo- 
mat. But  there  is  a  deeper  management,  sometimes,  in 
frankness,  than  is  found  in  guarded  reserve  or  mysticism  ; 
and  a  frank  communication  of  what  it  is  of  no  consequence 
should  lie  concealed,  may  often  form  a  veil  for  what  it  is 
important  should  be  preserved  sub  umbra.  And  I  divine 
that  Captain  E.  understands  this,  while  it  is  in  his  nature 
to  be  open  in  his  communications,  and  undisguised  in  his 
actions.  His  ingenuous  manner  almost  declares  his  pro- 
fession, (and  I  should  add,  en  passant,  that  he  holds  a  post- 
captain's  commission  in  her  Majesty's  navy,)  and  he  has 
possessed  himself  of  enough  of  all  the  languages  of  the 
East,  and  the  Portuguese,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  French, 
to  enable  him  sometimes  to  be  amusing  in  the  way  of 
narrative,  and  always  to  round  an  anecdote  successfully. 
Captain  Elliot  has  done  credit  to  himself  in  the  difficult 
circumstances  in  which  he  has  been  placed  ;  and  his  pass- 
ing the  Bogue  on  his  hearing  of  the  early  measures  at 
Canton,  in  the  endeavor  of  the  mandarins  to  secure  the 
person  of  Mr.  Dent ;  his  passing  the  flotilla  of  boats  which 
endeavored  to  prevent  his  landing  by  forming  a  barrier 
to  keep  his  small  boat  from  approaching  the  landing-place 
at  Canton,  is  spoken  of  as  a  gallant  act.  Competent  and 
confident  in  his  measures,  and  acquainted  with  the  genius 
of  the  people  and  bearing  of  the  controversy,  and  the 

*  A  statement,  including  public  documents,  and  letters  which 
passed  between  our  Consul  at  Canton,  and  Commodore  Read,  was 
prepared  by  the  author  for  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  but  its  extent 
precluded  the  possibility  of  its  insertion  ;  and  the  proposed  size  of 
these  volumes  still  prohibits  any  further  details,  than,  incidentally, 
have  been  given. 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  115 

wishes  of  his  government,  he  will  succeed  in  carrying  his 
own  plans  through,  if  he  gains,  as  he  expects,  the  appro- 
bation and  further  support  of  the  ministry  at  home. 

He  brought  with  him  from  Canton  a  magnificent  paint- 
ing of  George  the  Fourth,  which  has  occupied  the  hall 
in  the  British  factory  there.  Its  size,  however,  occupying 
its  present  position,  although  a  spacious  room,  reminded 
me  of  the  family  picture  of  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  which 
was  found,  after  it  had  been  finished,  to  be  too  large  in 
its  proportions  to  occupy  a  perpendicular  position  in  the 
house.  It  is  done  by  Laurence,  and  is  deemed  a  master- 
piece. I  was  less  interested  in  it  than  I  might  other- 
wise have  been,  had  not  Mrs.  Elliot  recalled  me  to  view 
a  beautiful  print  of  her  Gracious  Majesty,  Queen  Victoria, 
whom  Mrs.  E.  appears  to  admire  with  much  enthusiasm. 
Certain  it  is  that  Mrs.  E.  herself  is  a  queen  in  her  way — 
possessing  great  interest  as  a  lady  of  agreeable  and  easy 
manners,  clever,  accomplished,  quick  at  repartee,  and  with 
a  row  of  teeth  that  pearls  may  not  equal. 

On  the  succeeding  Wednesday  I  dined  with  Captain 
Elliot,  it  being  the  day  that  suited  the  engagements  of 
Commodore  Read.  All  the  gentlemen  of  the  Queen's 
commission  were  present — Messrs.  Johnson,  Emsly,  Mor- 
rison, some  of  the  India  service,  and  several  gentlemen  of 
the  large  mercantile  houses,  Mr.  Jardin  and  others,  and 
our  worthy  consul,  Mr.  Snow. 

I  took  my  leave  as  Mrs.  E.  retired  from  the  table,  for 
an  engagement  I  had  in  the  evening. 

Among  other  places  I  had  visited  during  the  week  is 
Mr.  Beal's  garden,  possessing  some  attractions  in  its  loca- 
lities and  arrangements  and  plants,  but  principally  inter- 
esting to  the  visiter  on  account  of  its  magnificent  aviary, 
which  contains  a  number  of  birds  of  the  richest  plumage 
and  most  gorgeous  colors,  characteristic  of  the  feathery 
tribe  of  the  tropics. 

THE    BIRD    OF    PARADISE. 

The  bird  of  Paradise — that  fairy  creature,  which  we 
have  almost  thought  to  be  a  thing  of  fable  rather  than  of 
real  existence — is  there,  now  in  his  perfection  of  plumage 

37 


116  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

and  coloring.  The  Mohammedan  places  the  souls  of  the 
blessed,  in  their  highest  heaven,  in  the  crops  of  green 
pigeons.  Had  the  bird  of  Paradise  ever  crossed  the  vision 
of  Mohammed,  the  green-plumage  colomba  would  never 
have  shared  the  honor  of  bearing  in  its  flight  the  souls  of 
good  Mussulmans.  I  seem  to  see  that  beautiful  creature, 
again  as  my  pen  would  describe  it,  hopping  from  perch 
to  perch,  changing  its  position  at  every  note  it  uttered,  as 
if,  conscious  of  the  perfection  of  its  beauty,  it  would  show 
every  feather  of  its  long,  and  soft,  and  downy,  and  richest- 
dyed  plumage,  and  blue  beak,  and  yellow  eye,  and  ringed 
and  speckled  claws.  There  have  been  many  descriptions 
of  this  identical  beauty,  nature's  masterpiece  of  the  fea- 
thered creation.  But  nothing  can  do  it  justice  in  the  ab- 
sence of  colors ;  and  its  portrait  even,  which  I  possess, 
and  so  well  done  as  apparently  to  be  regarded  with  all  the 
affection  of  self-esteem  by  the  beautiful  bird  itself,  reaches 
not  the  spirit  of  the  gay  original.  Its  light-blue  and 
graceful  bill,  placed  in  its  emerald  green  bed  ;  its  choco- 
late breast  and  pinions  in  contrast  with  its  brilliant  yellow 
of  the  upper  part  of  the  head  and  back,  darker  shaded 
towards  the  wings  ;  and  then,  its  gorgeous  tuft  of  white, 
downy,  and  elongated  plumage,  tinged  with  saffron  and 
extending  itself  like  a  train  of  light,  all  harmonize,  in  their 
blended  colors,  to  form  a  perfect  whole,  which  animated 
nature  nowhere  else  presents.  Sweet  thing !  it  would 
seem  that  it  ought  to  have  a  sweeter  voice — that  all  the 
symphonies  of  nature — the  ^Eolian  strain — the  whisper  of 
the  pine-top — and  notes,  they  say  of  old,  that  syrens  used, 
when  they  would  throw  a  spell  over  the  spirits  of  those 
they  enchanted,  should  be  blended  in  the  note  of  a  thing 
so  fair  and  so  perfect.  Who  can  look  on  thee,  thou  beau- 
tiful bird,  and  not  be  won  by  the  beautiful  Mind  that  con 
ceived  the  harmonies  of  thy  coloring,  and  painted  thee  as 
thou  art ! 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  other  birds  here,  gorgeous 
in  their  plumage,  and  surpassing,  for  their  beauty,  the 
conceptions  of  one  who  has  never  seen  them  represented 
in  ornithological  plates.  Among  these  is  the  golden 
pheasant,  the  silver  pheasant,  the  Argus  pheasant,  and 
more  beautiful  than  all,  the  Tartar  pheasant.  They  are 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  117 

larger  than  the  English  or  American  pheasant ;  and  their 
gorgeous  plumage  of  yellow  and  crimson  and  silver,  with 
the  hundred  eyes  of  the  Argus  pheasant  strewed  upon  its 
feathers,  make  the  peacock  almost  a  common  bird  beside 
them  as  they  attract  the  admiration  of  the  lover  of  ani- 
mated nature.  The  mandarin  duck  is  a  peculiar  bird ; 
and  beautiful  sparrows,  green  pigeons,  red  and  white  par- 
rots, finches,  and  half  a  hundred  variety  of  other  birds 
were  seen,  flying  or  hopping  about  within  this  spacious 
wire  cage,  which  covered  an  extent  sufficient  to  embrace 
the  boughs  and  trunks  of  several  well-grown  trees,  and 
an  artificial  water-pond,  giving  to  these  winged  idlers  of 
the  tropics  an  evergreen  grove  through  which  to  cut  the 
air,  to  build  their  nests,  to  lave  their  wings,  and  to  sport 
in  harmony,  shade,  and  song. 

THE    AMERICAN    MISSIONARIES    TO    CHINA. 

The  American  Missionaries  to  China  make  Macao 
their  residence.  Here,  they  can  enjoy  all  the  advantages 
they  need  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, printing  their  books,  and  an  ample  field  for  mis- 
sionary labor  among  the  extensive  Chinese  population  of 
Macao.  The  city  is  within  a  day's  sail  of  Canton,  and 
passage-boats  daily  ply  bevveen  the  two  places.  Here, 
too,  there  is  always  more  or  less  European  society,  being 
the  only  place  at  which  foreign  females  can  reside.  And 
here  they  have  the  protection  of  the  Portuguese  laws,  so 
far  as  those  laws  are  adequate  to  yield  it.  The  Baptist 
•Society  have  three  missionaries  here,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shuck, 
and  Mr.  Roberts.  They  each  have  a  small  school  of 
Chinese  scholars  ;  and  while  giving  them  instruction,  con- 
tinue their  own  application  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Chi- 
nese language.  These  missionaries  have  been  in  China 
some  time  more  than  a  year,  and  have  accomplished  a 
knowledge  of  the  language  which  enables  them  to  com- 
municate freely  with  the  Chinese.  It  is  the  only  language 
in  which  they  converse  in  their  intercourse  with  their 
pupils  and  domestics. 

It  is  a  vast  work  that  opens  before  the  missionary  to  the 
Chinese  empire  ;  and  surely  if  there  were  no  arm  but  that 


118  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  mortals  on  which  to  rely  in  the  hoped-for  revolutions 
that  are  to  be  effected  in  the  institutions  of  these  people, 
for  the  introduction  of  the  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  this  small  band,  gathered  at  this  point,  might  well 
veil  their  expectations  of  a  brighter  day  in  the  deep  shades 
that  seem  to  hang  thickly  over  the  onward  prospect  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  people.  But  there  is 
already  a  breaking  away  most  assuredly  observable  in  the 
moral  horizon  of  this  extended  nation.  There  are  facilities 
now  existing  which  have  not  before  existed  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  Chinese  language.  The  genius  of  the  people 
is  being  developed  to  the  perceptions  of  intelligent  men ; 
and  a  mighty  revolution  in  the  physical  circumstances  of 
a  people,  thus  surrounded  by  Christian  powers,  daily  ap- 
proaching nearer  and  nearer  to  them,  and  whose  commer- 
cial and  political  interests  are  beginning  to  come  in  sensi- 
tive contact,  is  destined,  ere  long,  to  come.  The  age  is 
one  of  light,  mental,  moral,  and  philosophical  inquiry, 
which  has  characterized  no  other  period  of  the  world,- and 
which  cannot  let  the  Chinese  empire  remain  unaffected  by 
its  influence.  China  must  be  opened.  The  time  is  at 
hand  when  a  combination  of  nations  more  enlightened  and 
powerful  in  arms,  science,  and  literature,  shall  WILL  it;  and 
the  Chinese  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  moral  causes  and 
their  effects,  hinder  it.  In  the  mean  time  the  missionary 
is  doing  the  right  thing,  in  preparing  the  truth  for  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  nation,  when  circumstances  shall  have  so 
conspired  as  to  render  it  admissible  and  acceptable. 
There  are  men  who  have  acquired  the  Chinese  language, 
so  as  to  write  it  with  accuracy  and  considerable  elegance. 
The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  the  Chinese  character. 
And  the  Chinese,  when  once  the  chain  of  olden  habits  and 
institutions  shall  have  been  riven  by  the  light  of  truer 
science  and  philosophy,  will  be  found  a  people  with  less  in 
their  habits  of  thinking  and  systems  opposing  Christianity, 
than  exists  among  many  other  nations,  and  far  less  than 
has  and  continues  to  be  the  influence  of  cast,  or  the  op- 
posing peculiarities  of  the  creed  of  Mohammed. 

The  Christian  world  is  becoming  more  and  more  inter- 
ested in  this  people.  They  are  a  courteous  and  civilized 
nation.  They  are  a  reasoning  people  among  the  higher 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  119 

orders,  who  govern,  unopposed,  the  lower  classes.  The 
rulers  are  a  literati  nobility,  or  an  aristocracy,  to  which 
the  acquaintance  with  books  (such  as  they  are)  alone 
makes  them  eligible.  And  thus  they  are  prepared,  and 
will  be  prepared,  in  the  revolutions  that  shall  introduce  to 
their  attention  better  principles,  with  the  greater  light  and 
knowledge  of  the  European  nations  and  systems,  to  ap- 
preciate these  principles.  And  with  a  government  con- 
structed as  the  Chinese  government  is,  one  Emperor  might 
spread  Christianity,  almost  without  opposition,  throughout 
the  empire  of  China.  His  word  is  law  ;  and  besides,  the 
Confucian  system,  to  which  the  literati,  who  are  the  same 
as  the  rulers,  belong,  has,  according  to  their  own  senti- 
ments, but  little  to  do  with  the  gods,  about  whom  they 
say  they  know  but  little,  and  ought  to  have  but  little  to 
do.  The  Confucian  system  is  a  system  of  political  eco- 
nomy, and  its  grand  principle  is  that  of  obedience  to  the 
powers  that  are,  resulting  from  the  first  principle  Con- 
fucius inculcates,  of  veneration  and  obedience  to  parents. 
The  Emperor  being  the  great  father  of  the  empire,  the 
same  principle  carried  up  secures  to  him  the  same,  though 
greater  veneration  and  obedience,  which,  in  the  premises, 
the  Scriptures  would  not  oppose,  but  inculcate.  And 
could  the  Bible  be  introduced  into  the  literary  course  of 
the  Chinese  as  one  of  their  classics,  even  alongside  of 
Confucius  as  their  political  code,  their  system,  as  it  now 
stands,  would  make  the  nation  possessed  of  one  of  the  most 
enviable  courses  of  education  the  world  could  know.  It 
would  be  the  desideratum  in  systems,  in  Christian  and  na- 
tional education,  which  good  men  can  hardly  hope  for, 
but  which  they  most  justly  and  devoutly  might  wish  and 
pray  for.  Of  course,  I  suppose  that  the  commentaries  on 
the  different  subjects  of  the  Scriptures  should  be,  and 
would  be,  as  extended  and  numerous  in  the  illustration  of 
the  text,  as  is  the  case  now  with  the  Chinese  classics,  in 
the  course  of  their  graduates. 

But  I  am  rather  anticipating  the  subject  here,  while  it 
is  yet  a  very  natural  association  to  make  mention  of  the 
missionaries  to  China  in  this  place,  as  they  are  resident  at 
Macao. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Brid^man,  Abeel,  Browne,  Mr.  WiU 
37* 


120          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

liams  and  Mrs.  Browne,  are  also  here,  connected  with  the 
American  Board  or  other  Presbyterian  missionary  societies 
in  the  U.  S.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  have  not  long  been  in  the 
missionary  field,  having  arrived  some  six  months  since. 
Besides  these  American  missionaries,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gutz- 
laff,  of  wide-spread  reputation  in  England  and  America, 
resides  with  his  family,  Mrs.  G.  and  two  nieces,  at  Macao. 
It  has  been  my  pleasure  to  meet  this  agreeable  gentleman 
and  his  pleasant  family.  Mr.  G.  is  a  gentleman  of  much 
vivacity  of  character,  has  acquired  a  very  intimate  know- 
ledge of  Chinese  for  a  foreigner,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
interpreters  to  the  Queen's  commission. 

Surely  it  is  no  small  task  the  missionary  enters  upon, 
when  he  devotes  himself  to  a  cause  which  is  to  require  the 
efforts  of  his  life  ;  and  for  years  must  secure  from  him  un- 
tiring industry,  to  enable  him  to  acquire  a  foreign  tongue, 
without  which  his  usefulness  can  be  of  little  extent.  It 
can  be  no  sinecure.  There  can  be  no  cessation  to  effort ; 
patience,  application,  and  an  untiring  industry,  must  char- 
acterize the  labor  of  the  missionary  in  such  a  field.  And 
I  have  witnessed  it.  And  he  who  has  gone  through  the 
toil,  in  his  early  days  of  boyhood,  in  his  course  of  studies 
of  the  dead  languages,  can  estimate  the  labor  and  the  un- 
tiring application  that  it  must  cost  the  Christian  mission- 
ary to  gain  the  competent  knowledge  of  a  foreign  tongue 
for  the  discharge  of  successful  labors.  And  there  are 
untold  and  unknown  sorrows  and  difficulties  and  disap- 
pointments that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  often  meet  these 
devoted  men  and  women,  that  none  but  those  placed  in 
similar  circumstances  can  justly  estimate.  Though  of  a 
different  denomination  from  all  the  missionaries  whom  I 
have  met  at  the  different  stations  where  our  ships  have 
touched,  I  am  happy  of  the  opportunity  of  adding  my  tes- 
timony to  their  untiring  efforts,  and  in  most  cases,  success- 
ful action  in  behalf  of  the  people  to  whom  they  have  been 
sent,  and  to  whom  they  have  given  their  Christian  sym- 
pathies. And  while  they  are  thus  engaged  in  the  service 
of  their  Lord,  we  should  not  forget,  in  our  estimate  of 
their  sacrifices,  that  they  lose  not  their  sensibilities  which 
attach  them  to  their  native  home.  Indeed,  the  very  fact 
of  their  being  on  missionary  ground,  is  presumptive  evi- 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND   THE    WORLD.  121 

dence  of  a  tender  heart — a  heart  that  swells  in  benevo- 
lence and  pious  devotion  for  others  and  strangers,  and 
with  kindling  devotion  to  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  who 
sacrificed  so  much  for  their  personal  welfare.  And  so 
the  thoughts  of  the  missionary  do  go  home  to  their  native 
land.  So  they  do  revisit,  with  intenser  love,  the  haunts 
of  their  infancy  and  youth  and  friends  and  kindred,  ren- 
dered doubly  dear,  as  the  often  loneliness  and  difficulties 
around  them  contrast  so  vividly  in  their  memories  with 
the  circumstances  and  the  associations  which  they  left 
behind  them.  And  yet,  they  would  not  retreat  from  the 
field  they  occupy.  They  but  redouble  their  effort  in  their 
devotion  to  the  cause  to  which  their  voluntary  act  has 
consecrated  them,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  those  sensi- 
bilities which  make  their  sacrifices  the  greater,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  depth  of  their  feelings.  And  to  show  that  it  is 
no  sudden  impulse  of  enthusiasm  that  actuates  the  devotee 
of  missions  and  the  Christian  friends  who  resign  their 
kindred  to  a  living  burial,  as  it  has  been  to  most  who  have 
parted  with  friends,  as  to  their  hopes  of  again  meeting  in 
this  world ;  but  on  the  contrary,  that  there  is  judicious 
and  considerate  thought,  of  considerate  and  intelligent  and 
calm  minds,  capable  of  seeing  the  relations  of  things  and 
their  fitness,  in  the  decisions  which  cause  the  missionary 
to  leave  his  or  her  home  for  life,  and  to  devote  himself 
and  herself  to  a  foreign  people,  I  introduce  here  a  private 
paper  which  was  written  by  an  affectionate  father,  whose 
heart  was  then  bleeding  over  the  hourly-expected  de- 
parture of  an  affectionate  daughter,  for  a  life's  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  missions  in  a  foreign  land.  The  counsel 
given  is  valuable  in  other  stations,  but  shows  that  our 
missionaries  who  go  abroad  are  from  among  the  sterling 
families  at  home.  The  first  paper  I  copy  is  addressed  by 
the  father  to  his  daughter  in  her  new  relations  as  a  mis- 
sionary's wife.  The  second  is  the  father's  farewell  letter 
to  this  daughter,  at  the  hour  of  her  leaving  him. 

"  A  few  private  thoughts  for  MARY. 

"  First,  on  the  subject  of  your  marriage. 

"  You  will  find  in  many  books,  rules,  and  good  rules 
for  the  government  of  your  conduct  in  respect  to  your 
husband ;  but  you  may  not  meet  with  them,  or  if  you  do, 


122  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

may  not  subscribe  to  them  so  entirely  as  to  practise  them. 
You  will  find  the  sum  and  substance  of  your  duty  in  this 
respect  in  a  volume  which  you  will  always,  I  trust,  have 
near  you — the  Bible.  If  you  observe  strictly  the  direc- 
tions therein  contained,  you  will  find  your  account  in  it. 
Your  happiness  and  usefulness,  depend  upon  it,  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  manner  in  which  you  observe 
these  rules.  One  principle  must,  of  necessity,  be  acted 
on,  and  that  is,  you  must  yield  to  ike  will  of  your  husband, 
whenever  the  point  is  made.  This  must  be  the  case,  or 
he  must  yield  to  you.  I  do  not  mean  that  it  is  necessary 
to  yield  a  forced  obedience,  but  a  willing  one.  God 
has  constituted  the  man,  as  the  stronger  in  mind  and  body, 
to  have  the  government,  and  in  proportion  as  you  may 
be  disposed  to  usurp  the  authority  which  belongs  to  him, 
you  destroy  the  order  of  Providence  and  the  harmony  of 
the  connubial  state.  Never,  therefore,  oppose  the  will  of 
your  husband.  You  may  reason  with,  and  persuade,  but 
do  not  attempt  to  dictate  to  him.  i  I  will'  and  *  I  will  not,9 
are  words  which  should  never  be  found  in  a  wife's  vo- 
cabulary. Never  use  them  to  your  husband,  or  you  may 
force  him  to  adopt  such  as  he  may  lawfully  do,  but  such 
as  he  should  never  have  reason  for,  '  you  shall?  and  '  you 
shall  not9 

"  Do  not  fret  at  or  quarrel  with  your  husband,  on  any 
occasion.  He  is  fallible,  and  may  sometimes  err  and  may 
speak  unadvisedly,  but  on  such  occasions  be  silent  and 
affectionate,  and  you  will  reform  him. 

"  Be  always  neat  and  cleanly  in  your  person  and  dress, 
and  you  will  increase  his  love  and  respect  for  you.  A 
sluttish  appearance  in  a  wife  distresses  and  may  disgust 
a  husband.  Little  differences  may,  and  will,  sometimes 
occur  between  man  and  wife.  Should  you  find  this  your 
case,  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  making  the  first  over- 
ture of  reconciliation.  You  will  thereby  heal  the  wound, 
and  increase  the  love  of  your  husband. 

"  When  you  reach  your  place  of  destination,  and  your 
husband  is  necessarily  compelled  to  be  often  absent  from 
you,  do  not  take  it  as  evidence  of  his  want  of  affection.  If 
he  stays  beyond  the  time  expected,  meet  him  on  his  return 
with  smiles  and  caresses ;  and  depend  on  it  he  will  be 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          123 

thereby  induced  to  hasten  home,  when  otherwise  he  might 
not.  Make  home  the  quietest  and  happiest  place,  and  he 
will  love  it.  But  yet  he  must  often  leave  it,  and  you  must 
consent  that  he  should. 

"  Your  husband  may  die  before  you.  In  that  case,  re- 
member that  if  I  am  living  you  should  take  no  important 
step  without  my  advice,  however  distant,  if  it  can  be 
avoided.  If  it  be  impossible  to  get  that  advice,  go  to  the 
pious  and  experienced,  with  whom  you  may  be  associated. 

"  Improve  your  handwriting.  It  needs  it.  Write  all 
your  letters  and  journals  with  care  as  to  penmanship,  spell- 
ing, and  diction. 

"Do  not  be  impatient  when  sick.  You  are  rather 
predisposed  that  way.  Take  great  care  of  your  health. 
Avoid  the  sun  when  hot,  and  the  dews,  and  all  improper 
food ;  and  do  not  take  medicine  too  freely,  and  without 
great  caution. 

"  Avoid  careless  habits  in  every  thing. 

"  A  place  for  every  thing  and  every  thing  in  its  place." 

"  MY  DEAR  MARY, — 

"  The  time  is  at  hand  when  you  are  to  bid  adieu  to  the 
land  of  your  birth,  to  enter  upon  a  mission  of  mercy  to  a 
distant  and  heathen  portion  of  our  race.  If  commissioned 
upon  this  embassy  of  peace  and  salvation  to  perishing  sin- 
ners by  the  King  of  kings,  I  doubt  not  he  will  furnish  you 
with  such  instructions,  and  afford  you  such  encourage- 
ment and  support  as  will  enable  you  to  accomplish  the 
object  of  your  mission.  God  however  will  not  speak  au- 
dibly in  your  ears,  and  you  will  have  to  receive  his  com- 
munications through  the  medium  of  his  word,  his  servants, 
and  by  his  Spirit  operating  upon  your  heart  and  moving 
you  in  the  path  of  duty. 

"  Placed  in  the  endearing  relation  to  you  of  a  father,  it 
may  not  be  contrary  to 'the  will  of  our  heavenly  Parent 
that  I  should  assume  the  duty  of  imparting  some  instruc- 
tion to  you,  touching  the  important  business  upon  which 
you  are  about  to  enter. 

"  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  the  mo- 
tives which  influence  you.  The  sacrifice  of  all  further 
personal  intercourse  on  earth  with  so  many  dear  friends, 


124  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

to  encounter  the  dangers  of  the  ocean,  and  to  live  and  die 
among  uncultivated  heathen,  would  seem  to  be  proof 
enough  of  your  disinterestedness,  did  we  not  know  the 
pride  and  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart.  The  desire 
of  distinction,  love  of  novelty,  etc.,  are  such  insidious  mo- 
tives which  sometimes  assume  the  name  of  philanthropy, 
that  it  requires  great  caution  and  much  self-examination 
to  detect  them.  On  this  point' I  need  not  enlarge.  You 
know  that  for  these  twelve  months  you  have  had  my 
thoughts  upon  it.  You  have,  as  I  trust,  prayerfully  and 
deliberately  considered  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings  ;  and 
you  have  decided  to  go.  In  making  this  decision,  you 
have  subjected  yourself  to  many  unkind  remarks  from  the 
illiberal,  the  ignorant,  and  the  wicked ;  some  of  which 
may  have  reached  your  ears,  but  by  far  the  greater  part 
have  been  uttered  out  of  your  hearing.  To  say  that  I 
have  no  fears  whatever  for  you,  would  be  untrue.  It  is 
what,  I  presume,  you  would  not  venture  to  say  for  your- 
self. We  should  distrust  and  jealously  watch  every  mo- 
tive which  has  so  much  to  do  with  self.  While  I  would 
not  myself,  nor  would  I  have  you  indulge  a  confident 
boasting  in  regard  to  this  matter,  at  the  same  time  I  am 
free  to  express  the  opinion,  that,  so  far  as  we  can  judge, 
it  is  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  take  this  step.  If  we 
be  mistaken,  I  trust  that  he  will  pardon  our  blindness  and 
overrule  all  for  good. 

"  You  have,  my  dear  child,  taken  upon  you  the  name 
and  office  of  a  missionary — a  name  and  office  which  a  Jud- 
son,  and  Newell,  and  Morrison,  and  Gutzlaff,  and  others 
have  caused  to  be  associated  with  honor ;  but  you  must 
remember  that  they  are  not  necessarily  thus  associated. 
The  reputation  which  those  missionaries  which  have  pre- 
ceded you  have  obtained,  cannot  be  transferred  to  you. 
By  patient,  continued,  and  faithful  labor  in  the  cause  of 
Christ,  must  you  win  and  share  the  honors  of  a  mission- 
ary's life. 

"  While  the  result  of  your  toils  in  the  cause  may  con- 
fer some  degree  of  honor  upon  yourself,  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that  this  is  the  least  consideration  which  should 
animate  you.  The  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls 
should  move  you  to  the  same  exertions,  were  you  confi* 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  125 

dent  that,  in  the  world,  your  motives  might  be  impugned 
and  your  name  be  brought  into  disrepute.  For  the  sake 
of  the  cause,  however,  in  which  you  are  engaged,  it  should 
be  your  care  to  gain  a  standing  with  the  world — at  least 
the  Christian  world — for  a  degree  of  moral  and  religious 
worth.  Aim  at  high  attainments  in  personal  piety,  not 
such  as  will  cause  you  to  feel  like  the  Pharisee  when  he 
said,  'God,  I  thank  thee,'  &c.,  but  rather,  such  as  will 
humble  you  and  bring  you  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and 
cause  you  to  adopt  the  prayer  of  the  publican,  *  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner/ 

"  P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  attended  the 
meeting  for  the  public  designation  of  your  company  as 
missionaries,  and  we  have  heard  the  official  instructions  of 
the  Board.  Those  instructions  are  the  result  of  age  and 
experience,  and  contain  all  perhaps  that  is  necessary  for 
your  guidance ;  and  I  shall,  without  repeating  such  thoughts 
as  are  there  suggested,  only  insist,  writh  parental  earnest- 
ness, that  you  pay  strict  regard  to  them. 

"There  is  one  thought  that  I  would  impress  deeply  upon 
your  mind,  and  that  is,  that  you  have  enlisted  for  life ; 
and  that,  unless  extraordinary  occurrences  of  Providence 
shall  otherwise  indicate,  you  are  never  to  return  to  Ameri- 
ca— never,  unless  the  Board  here  shall  advise  and  require  it. 

"  I  part  with  you  with  all  the  feelings  of  nature,  and 
shall,  when  let  down  to  the  feeling  point,  (for  I  am  above 
it,)  weep  on  account  of  our  separation ;  but  I  assure  you 
that  I  do  not  regret  you  are  going.  Assure  me  that  all  is 
right  in  motive  with  us  all,  and  that  God  requires  it,  and 
I  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  your  living  and  dying  on  hea- 
then ground.  I  should  look  upon  it  as  a  lasting  stigma 
were  you  to  become  tired  of  your  vocation,  and  quit  the 
service  in  which  you  have  engaged.  Although  you  have 
reflected  on  many  trials  and  difficulties  that  may  attend 
you,  after  all  you  perhaps  have  not  thought  of  half  that 
you  will  experience.  Prepare  your  mind  for  the  worst. 
You  should  not  however  doubt  the  faithfulness  of  God — 
that  he  will  be  with  you  alway. 

"  In  your  intercourse  with  your  fellow  laborers  in  the 
same  service,  I  hope  you  will  find  much  pleasure.  Catch 
all  their  virtues  and  avoid  all  their  foibles,  if  they  have  any. 


126          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

"  You  will  have  much  time  during  the  voyage,  and  af- 
terwards, it  is  probable,  for  devotion,  reading,  and  reflec- 
tion. Endeavor  to  improve  it.  Lay  in  a  good  stock  of 
useful  knowledge,  and  do  not  consider  your  education  as 
yet  completed.  Take  care  of  minutes,  and  have  system 
in  all  your  affairs. 

"  Remember  those  you  leave  behind — your  brothers, 
sisters,  friends  !  Pray  for  them,  and  write  to  them.  We 
part  in  a  short  time  to  meet  no  more  on  earth  !  But  we 
shall  meet  again  shortly,  in  heaven.  Till  then,  fare- 
well!! 

"  YOUR  FATHER." 

Owing  to  the  prevalence  of  the  typhoons  in  the  China 
seas  during  the  months  of  July  and  August,  occurring 
sometimes  sooner  and  sometimes  later  in  the  season,  it  is 
deemed  imprudent  for  a  ship  to  lie  longer  than  the  latter 
part  of  June  in  the  Roads  of  Macao  ;  and  the  shipping, 
consequently,  generally  change  their  anchorage  for  a  har- 
bor under  the  lee  of  Hong  Kong,  Tung  Koo,  or  Lintin, 
islands  in  the  neighborhood.  Either  of  the  sheets  of  wa- 
ter hemmed  in  by  these  with  other  clustering  islands  and 
the  main  land  adjacent  to  them,  is  deemed  to  afford  a  safe 
anchorage  during  the  prevalence  of  the  hurricanes  of  the 
China  seas.  The  Columbia  and  the  John  Adams,  there- 
fore, will  change  their  positions  from  Macao  roads  for 
Tung  Koo  bay  some  time  during  the  week.  I  have  con- 
sequently completed  my  visits  to  several  spots  in  the  city, 
which  I  had  before  omitted  to  inspect  with  the  minuteness 
I  desired. 

PUBLIC    BUILDINGS    AND    CATHOLIC    PROCESSIONS. 

The  public  buildings  of  Macao — the  senate  house,  the 
churches,  Santa  Clara  convent,  St.  Joseph's  college,  con- 
vents of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Augustine,  and  the  hermitages 
on  their  beautiful  sites,  flanking  the  city  on  either  wing — 
are  all  buildings  of  interest  in  their  olden  associations  and 
present  material,  enough  for  poetry  and  fiction ;  but,  as 
specimens  of  architecture,  have  nothing  particular  to  at- 
tract ;  and  their  internal  arrangements  are  like  all  Catholic 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  127 

chapels,  with  their  altars  and  their  particular  saints  in 
niches,  and  the  paraphernalia  of  candlestick,  taper,  and 
tinsel.  I  have  never  yet  seen  a  respectable  and  tasteful 
looking  image  in  a  Catholic  church,  of  the  hundreds  I  have 
seen.  They  always  have  the  appearance  of  dusty  wax 
figures,  rendered  doubly  disagreeable  for  the  priestly  cos- 
tume in  which  they  are  almost  always  attired,  which  could 
never  give  grace  to  a  piece  of  sculpture  as  true  taste  would 
robe  a  statue,  even  of  a  Catholic  saint.  And  then,  above 
all  things,  to  hang  a  wreath  of  fresh  flowers  on  such  a 
thing  of  antiquity,  as  is  often  the  case,  on  festival  days, 
when  the  patron  saint  of  a  particular  church  is  paraded 
through  the  streets,  makes  one  think  that  sacrilege  is  done 
to  the  flowers ;  and  we  turn  from  it  as  we  would  from  a 
matron  of  threescore  and  ten,  who  should  put  paint  on  her 
cheeks,  and  gaudy  decorations  of  gold  about  her  neck  and 
pendants  in  her  ears.  A  festoon  of  flowers  hangs  with 
better  taste  on  the  intersecting  bars  of  that  beautiful  em- 
blem, the  cross. 

I  love  an  old  building.  And  I  love  to  pace  the  silent 
aisles  of  the  olden  cathedral,  and  move  beneath  the  moss- 
hung  walls  of  the  ruins  of  the  convent  and  church,  and 
courts  of  the  once  spacious  cloister.  And  I  like,  too,  the 
beauty  and  the  freshness  of  the  new  and  extended  building, 
where  there  is  space  and  massiveness  and  proportion  blend- 
ed in  harmonies,  that  bespeak  taste  and  genius  in  the  con- 
struction. And  I  love  to  wander  through  olden  fortifica- 
tions that  have  many  legends  of  the  past  associated  with 
them.  And  he  must  be  miserably  insensible  indeed,  and  a 
slave  to  the  mere  physical  of  his  nature,  who  can  trace 
the  early  and  later  story  of  this  far-settlement  of  the  East, 
ever  in  agitation  in  the  furtherance  of  its  own  schemes  of 
aggrandizement,  or  ready  to  promote  the  ambitious  views 
of  the  court  of  Lisbon,  oj  the  high  pretensions  of  the  see 
of  Rome,  and  finds  not  quite  enough  to  interest  his  imagi- 
nation and  his  reflection  as  he  treads  the  high  steeps  and 
the  deep  ravines  of  the  embattled  and  only  asylum  for  for- 
eigners in  this  region  of  the  far  East.  Here  it  was,  the 
Jesuits  fixed  their  point  of  rendezvous  from  which  they 
made  their  entree  into  the  celestial  empire,  penetrated  to 
the  imperial  city,  and  had  made  the  nation  of  the  Chinese 

38 


128  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

a  species  of  Christians  had  the  Pope  acted  with  the  policy 
of  these  his  sworn  adherents,  and  prevented  the  mendicant 
monks,  with  their  opposing  tenets,  to  find  their  way  to 
China,  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  harmonious  action  of  the 
Jesuits  and  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Catholic  cause.  And 
here,  the  Jesuit,  the  Dominican,  the  Augustine  and  the  Ca- 
puchin, alike  found  a  retreat  and  safety,  when  banishment 
or  death  awaited  them  on  the  promulgation  of  edicts,  more 
powerful  than  the  bulls  of  Popes  resident  half  a  sphere 
from  the  shores  of  the  "  middle  land." 

I  had  prepared  a  sketch  in  connection  with  the  Catholic 
religion  at  Macao,  to  be  introduced  in  this  place.  It  were 
a  topic,  of  itself,  in  connection  with  collateral  subjects 
which  have  generally  been  associated  by  the  Romanists 
with  the  action  of  the  Propagandists,  sufficient  to  fill  a 
volume  of  historic  facts,  incidents,  and  reflections  thereon 
— dissevered  as  that  action  has  seldom  been  from  com- 
mercial and  political  associations.  Nor  would  it  have 
been  in  my  heart  to  do  the  Catholics  injustice  in  this,  or 
ever.  On  the  contrary,  where  I  find  that  which  harmo- 
nizes with  my  own  sentiment  of  truth  and  propriety,  it  is 
a  pleasure  for  me  to  compliment  and  to  commend.  But 
this  sketch,  here,  at  least,  must  be  omitted,  while  briefly 
alluding,  before  leaving  Macao,  to  some  of  the  proces- 
sions of  the  church,  still  continued  in  this  olden  Portuguese 
settlement. 

Christmas,  Easterday,  Whitsuntide,  and  other  festival 
days,  are  celebrated  with  much  pomp,  though  probably 
with  less  demonstration  of  show  and  veneration  than  in 
former  times.  There  are  eighteen  festivals  devoted  to  the 
Virgin  Mary  ;  thirteen  others  to  other  saints,  male  and  fe- 
male, and  each  festival  is  continued,  in  its  celebration,  from 
nine  to  thirteen  days,  and  ends  with  processions  through 
the  streets.  A  flag,  or  some  other  conspicuous  emblem, 
designating  the  saint,  or  some  subject  associated  with  the 
action  and  story  of  the  venerated  patron,  is  seen  displayed 
near  the  church  at  which  the  multitude  gather  to  worship ; 
and  sometimes  at  other  places,  in  honor  of  the  occasion, 
flags  are  streaming  ;  while  the  public  procession  is  attend- 
ed by  the  clergy,  in  great  numbers,  chanting  the  praises 
of  the  saint,  as  his  image  is  borne  in  its  car  upon  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          129 

shoulders  of  devotees.  A  detachment  of  the  military,  with 
the  accompaniment  of  music,  gives  martial  solemnity  to 
the  scene,  and  the  fort  of  the  mount  discharges  twenty- 
one  guns  in  honor  of  the  day.  The  senate  defrays,  from 
the  royal  chest,  the  expenses  of  the  festival  and  procession 
of  "our  Lady  of  Conception,"  who  is  the  patroness  of  the 
kingdom.  Also,  the  charges  of  the  festival  of  the  "Guar- 
dian Angel  of  the  kingdom,"  of "  St.  John  the  Baptist," 
and  of  "  Corpus  Christi  day,"  are  defrayed  from  the  public 
coffers. 

The  processions  of  "Corpus  Christi"  and  of  "  St.  An- 
tonio" I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  here.  The 
mass  was  being  repeated  as  I  arrived  at  the  church  of  St. 
Domingos,  standing  at  one  extremity  of  the  square,  which 
is  fronted  on  the  other  extreme  by  the  senate  house.  The 
military  were  drawn  up  at  rest,  in  a  line  extending  from 
the  church  on  their  left  far  down  the  wide  street.  The 
church  was  filled  to  a  jam,  by  Portuguese  women,  kneel- 
ing in  a  mass,  and  most  of  them  with  the  light  shawl  thrown 
over  their  head,  while  the  dark  lace  veil  formed  the  head- 
dress of  the  better  class  of  the  worshippers.  The  gover- 
nor was  kneeling  near  the  altar,  and  other  military  offi- 
cers occasionally  entered,  with  a  genuflection,  and  left 
again,  watching  the  progress  of  the  service,  and  being  in 
readiness  to  move,  at  the  signal,  for  the  elevation  of  the 
Host. 

The  mass  was  over ;  and  the  sacred  emblems,  consecra- 
ted and  believed  to  be  the  body  of  Christ  in  verity,  were 
borne  by  four  or  six  priests,  and  followed  by  the  vicar  gen- 
eral, the  governor,  and  priests  numerous,  in  their  clerical 
robes,  corresponding  to  their  separate  orders  of  Domini- 
cans, Franciscans,  and  others,  joined  by  the  devout  of  the 
multitude.  As  they  passed  on  from  the  gate  of  the  church, 
the  military,  already  formed,  wheeled  in  platoons  to  the 
left,  uniting  with  the  procession,  and  the  band  of  music 
struck  up  their  solemn  and  fine  music,  as  the  procession 
moved  on  in  measured  and  martial  step  towards  the  sen- 
ate house — -passing  through  several  streets,  and  back  again 
to  the  church.  All  were  uncovered,  the  soldiers  carrying 
their  caps  in  their  hand,  as  their  muskets  were  pressed  at 
their  breast.  The  intense  ray  of  the  tropical  sun  beat  alike 


130  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

upon  the  venerable  head  of  the  governor  and  tonsure- 
priest,  and  darker  and  thicker  locks  of  the  soldiery.  But 
the  procession  had  soon  performed  its  circuit,  while  min- 
ute guns  from  the  fort  of  the  mount  bore  their  testimony 
of  consciousness  that  the  devotees  were  on  their  solemn 
march ;  which,  with  the  circumstance  and  pomp  and  re- 
spectful demeanor  of  the  joiners  in  with  the  procession, 
and  the  mass  of  spectators  that  crowded  each  side  of  the 
street,  or  thronged  the  windows  of  the  houses,  presented, 
at  once,  an  imposing  and  impressive  scene. 

The  procession  in  honor  of  St.  Anthony  was  not  dissimi- 
lar to  that  of  "  Corpus  Christi,"  though  less  imposing.  In- 
stead of  the  Host,  the  image  of  St.  Anthony,  who  is  the 
patron  saint  of  the  kingdom,  was  borne  in  procession.  I 
was  particularly  well  situated  for  witnessing  this  proces- 
sion, as  I  occupied  a  position  on  the  turret  overlooking  the 
square,  within  which  the  procession  moved  to  the  strains 
of  martial  music,  and  followed  by  the  various  orders  of 
the  brotherhoods.  The  figure  of  St.  Anthony  himself 
was  a  small  statue,  wreathed  with  a  garland  of  the  sweet 
little  malati  flowers,  and  his  car  decorated  with  tinsel. 
The  silver  cross  and  other  emblems  were  borne  in  pro- 
cession. 

It  will  appear  a  curious  particular  to  those  not  familiar 
in  their  associations  with  the  peculiarities  of  Catholic  wor- 
shippers and  system  of  saints,  that  this  said  St.  Anthony, 
considered  the*  protector  of  Macao  as  he  is  of  the  king- 
dom of  Portugal,  is  declared  by  authentic  documents  to 
have  been  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  1725,  and  in  1783  he 
obtained  the  rank  of  captain.  On  the  eve  of  the  proces- 
sion the  amount  of  a  captains  annual  pay  is  sent  by  the 
senate  to  the  curate,  which  is  used  for  the  expenses  for 
celebrating  worship,  and  preserving  the  edifice  and  uten- 
sils in  neatness  for  the  service  of  the  patron's  church. 

There  is  another  procession  said  to  take  place  on  the 
Sunday  of  the  Cross,  yet  more  impressive  than  any  other. 
On  this  occasion,  "  the  image  of  the  Redeemer,  clad  in  a 
purple  garment,  wearing  on  his  head  a  crown  of  thorns, 
and  on  his  shoulders  bearing  a  heavy  cross,  bends  his 
knees  on  the  bottom  of  a  bier,  supported  by  eight  of  the 
most  distinguished  citizens.  The  bishop,  with  the  secular 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  131 

and  regular  clergy,  the  governor,  nobility  and  military,  and 
the  whole  Roman  Catholic  population,  it  may  be  said,  assist, 
deeply  affected  by  a  scene  which  prognosticates  a  divine 
sacrifice  to  be  made  for  reconciling  man  with  his  Creator. 
Young  children  of  both  clear  and  dark  skins,  arrayed  in 
fancy  dresses  of  angels,  with  beautiful  muslin  wings  at  the 
shoulders,  carry,  in  a  miniature  shape,  the  instruments 
which  were  required  at  the  crucifixion.  This  procession 
takes  a  range  over  almost  the  whole  city.  When  finished, 
the  image  of  Christ  is  deposited  in  its  shrine  at  the  Con- 
vent of  St.  Augustine." 

But,  the  time  had  now  come,  June  the  14th,  when  I  was 
to  leave  Macao.  I  had  already  sent  my  moveables  to  the 
ship ;  and  this  morning,  as  I  took  a  walk  on  the  Praya 
Grande,  I  was  accosted  by  Mr.  Forbes,  a  gentleman  of 
great  urbanity  of  feeling  and  manner.  He  said  he  under- 
stood I  desired  to  visit  Canton — a  boat  was  going  to-mor- 
row morning,  and  he  should  be  happy  if  I  would  form  one 
of  the  company.  It  was  no  longer  deemed  much  risk  of 
detention  by  visiting  Canton.  I  only  waited  the  opportu- 
nity, therefore,  for  visiting  the  city. 

ON    THE    WAY    TO    CANTON. 

If  it  did  not  offer  from  Macao,  I  presumed  to  find  one 
immediately  after  our  ship  reached  her  anchorage  at  Tung 
Koo  Bay.  But  this  opportunity  now  presenting,  my  ar- 
rangements were  soon  made  for  an  early  start  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th,  in  the  little  Sylph,  that  mischief- 
making  little  passage-boat,  which  it  is  supposed  in  former 
times  has  carried  much  of  the  contraband  narcotic  to 
Canton,  but  henceforward  must  make  a  living  by  being 
employed  in  a  more  legitimate  business.  And  so,  on 
board  of  this  little  clipper  I  was,  in  the  morning,  and  with 
the  sunrise  up  came  the  anchor,  and  we  were  away. 

"Away,"  and  on  my  course  to  Canton.  Perhaps  we 
should  reach  there  the  same  night ;  we  did  reach  there  the 
next  morning.  Canton  !  It  is  not  the  Doric  temple,  the 
Corinthian  pillar,  the  dome  of  mosque  or  the  Gothic  mas- 
sive pile,  that  give  interest  to  an  inhabited  or  desolate  city. 
It  is  the  associations  of  the  past,  whether  there  be  lofty 

38* 


132  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

palace  or  crumbling  ruin,  stately  buildings  or  but  the  cot- 
tage-lodge which  marks  a  locality,  and  throws  a  spell 
around  a  place  of  desolation  or  of  active  and  successful  life. 
And  Canton,  be  it  what  it  may  in  external  appearance, 
cannot  disappoint  the  mind  that  has  more  to  do  with  itself 
than  with  external  objects.  What  youth  of  either  hemi- 
sphere of  the  civilized  world  has  not  had  his  mind  filled 
with  images  of  Chinese  association  ?  He  has  read  de- 
scriptions of  the  celestial  empire  and  its  long-cue  or  braid 
inhabitants ;  and  contemplated  in  drawings  the  delinea- 
tions of  their  peculiar  costume,  and  more  than  half-shaven 
heads,  and  turn-up  and  thick-soled  shoes,  altogether  ex- 
hibiting a  picture,  which  resembles  the  creature  man  as 
found  in  no  other  part  of  the  globe.  And  when  the  child's 
inquisitiveness  has  first  begun  to  develop  itself,  his  curios- 
ity has  been  replied  to  as  he  was  told  that  the  green  leaves 
of  which  his  tea  is  made  came  from  China.  And  the  young 
American,  the  first  thing  he  learns  of  the  history  of  his  own 
country,  next  to  the  stories  of  the  Indian  wars,  from  the  lips 
of  his  mother,  is  the  narrative  of  the  tea  plot — how  certain 
men  in  masks  went  on  board  of  a  tea-ship  in  the  harbor 
of  Boston,  and  threw  the  chests  overboard,  because  our 
forefathers  would  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  taxed  by  the 
mother  country.  His  imagination  at  once  takes  in  the 
whole  scene  of  the  maskers  throwing  the  tea-chests  to  the 
wave,  and  perhaps  can  hardly  reconcile  to  his  idea  the 
propriety  of  the  waste,  at  the  moment,  while  the  mysteri- 
ous occupies  his  young  imagination,  and  he  leaves  the 
comprehension  of  the  great  principles  that  were  involved, 
for  the  consideration  of  riper  years.  And  then  he  has 
wondered,  as  he  has  yielded  to  the  conviction  that  the 
world  is  round,  what  sort  of  people  are  they  on  that  side 
of  the  world  opposite  to  him  !  And  while  he  has  read 
and  become  older,  he  still  feels  that  his  imagination  has  the 
most  to  do  in  the  origin  of  the  feelings  with  which  he 
makes  his  deductions  in  connection  with  the  people  of  the 
eastern  world.  For  myself,  I  should  have  cared  not  if  the 
city  of  Canton  had  been  found  built  on  a  barren  rock — 
her  dwellings  bamboo  houses,  could  I  but  yet  have  found 
her  thousand  boats  lying  in  the  stream  with  their  crowded 
families  and  chickens  and  ducks, which  I  had  read  of;  and 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  133 

the  junks,  and  the  dragon-boats  ;  and  on  shore,  the  crowded 
populace,  the  long  cues  of  the  men,  and  the  small  feet  of 
the  women,  and  the  trinkets,  and  the  ivory  things,  and  the 
silks,  and  the  shawls,  and  the  crapes,  and  the  teas. 

But,  our  sails  being  set,  and  the  wind  favorable  enough 
for  our  gaff-topsail,  the  little  schooner  soon  made  her  way 
through  the  little  islands,  becoming  more  and  more  nume- 
rous as  Macao  is  left  in  the  distance,  and  the  Bogue  begins 
to  open  to  the  eye. 

The  Bogue,  so  often  alluded  to  in  the  accounts  of  Can- 
ton, and  particularly  in  connection  with  difficulties  which 
have  at  different  times  occurred  here  in  the  English  com- 
merce, and  within  a  few  years  back  inducing  the  British  men- 
of-war  to  "force  the  Bogue,"  is  formed  by  the  near  ap- 
proach of  two  islands,  through  which  the  waters  of  the 
river  Tigris  disgorge  as  its  outlet,  and  from  which,  some 
thirty  to  forty  miles  up  the  river,  the  city  of  Canton  is 
situated.  There  are  two  fortifications  here  of  considera- 
ble extent,  one  on  either  side.  In  the  hands  of  other  pow- 
ers, arid  with  fortifications  properly  constructed,  this  pass 
would  be  impregnable.  As  it  is,  the  range  of  cannon  are 
placed  on  immoveable  carriages,  and,  by  consequence,  can 
fire  only  in  one  line  of  direction.  As  they  are  now  con- 
structed, no  man-of-war  would  deem  the  risk  of  the  passage 
of  much  account,  although  a  cross-fire,  in  other  hands, 
would  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  ship. 

As  we  neared  the  Bogue  we  saw  in  the  distance  an  ob- 
ject drifting  to  the  leeward.  It  was  approaching  dusk,  and 
though  we  made  out  the  object  to  be  a  boat  bottom  up- 
wards, and  had  consulted  the  propriety  of  putting  about  for 
their  rescue,  as  the  waves  were  running  rather  high,  and 
the  breeze  fresh,  we  yet  could  not  define  the  object  with 
much  distinctness.  Our  captain,  a  dark  Bengalese,  said  it 
would  be  of  no  use  to  stand  after  the  sufferers,  as  we  had 
no  small  boat  to  lower  for  their  assistance.  We  should 
probably  have  disagreed  with  him,  even  to  his  being  put 
out  of  his  honorable  command,  had  we  not  fortunately  at 
the  same  moment  discerned  a  Hearing  junk,  which  had 
evidently  discovered  the  same  boat,  and  was  beating  down 
for  her.  We  watched  the  junk  on  her  several  tacks,  until, 
while  there  was  yet  light  enough  to  save  us  from  mistake, 


134  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

we  saw  her  lower  her  sails  as  she  hove  to,  near  the  object 
in  distress,  and  a  small  boat  put  off  for  their  relief. 

The  Sylph  having  been  examined  at  the  Bogue,  and  the 
passengers  identified  as  per  the  chop,  which  had  been  fur- 
nished at  Macao,  we  passed  on  up  the  river.  The  first 
object  that  met  my  eye  as  I  awoke  at  early  daylight,  was 
the  towering  nine-storied  pagoda  near  Whampoa,  reali- 
zing in  all  its  proportions  and  outline  the  drawings  I  had 
seen  of  these  octagonal  and  picturesque  and  mysterious 
buildings. 

The  scenery  now  changed  from  the  boldness  that  char- 
acterizes the  heights  of  the  land  views  at  the  Bogue,  and 
about  Whampoa,  to  the  plain  on  the  edges  of  the  river, 
where  the  paddy-fields  were  seen,  and  the  banana  trees 
growing,  and  here  and  there  the  mulberry,  with  its  light 
green  leaves,  forming  an  interesting  edging  to  the  banks 
of  the  Tigris. 

The  junks  now  began  to  increase  in  their  numbers,  and 
the  lesser  boats  to  thicken  in  their  clusters,  and  new  war- 
junks  swinging  in  the  stream  as  we  continued  to  near 
the  city.  And  now,  the  city  itself,  over  a  flotilla  of  boats, 
came  into  view,  the  single  pagoda  within  the  walls  of  the 
town,  and  the  cupola  of  the  Moormen's  mosque,  and  the 
embattlement,  here  and  there,  of  the  wall  itself;  while 
the  back-ground  was  filled  up  with  high  lands  rising 
in  broken  and  receding  outline.  The  Dutch  and  the 
French  folly  next  meet  the  eye,  as  the  Sylph  glided  along, 
now  slowly  against  the  rapid  tide,  dodging  a  clump  of 
boats  here  and  a  fleet  of  junks  there,  and  lesser  boats 
everywhere,  of  every  variety — the  mandarin,  the  passage, 
the  flower,  and  the  tanka-boat — all  unique  in  their  way, 
some  of  them  bearing  about  them  the  air  of  comfort  and 
neatness  and  space,  with  ornamental  carved-work  ;  while 
others  looked  as  if  they  might  have  drifted  there  from 
among  the  wrecks  of  Noah's  flood. 

Here  was  a  scene  of  life  that  no  other  stream  of  the 
world,  probably,  exhibits.  Each  shore  of 'the  river  was 
lined  with  varied  boats  several  tiers  thick,  from  the  im- 
mense deckers  that  bring  the  teas  down  the  river,  with 
their  varnished  sides  and  roofs,  to  the  smallest  tanka,  all 
with  any  number  of  young  celestials  displaying  themselves 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  135 

at  the  openings  in  the  sides,  with  older  heads  of  men  and 
no  less  curiously  inspecting  women,  gazing  from  these 
water-castles  and  their  homes — sometimes  indulging  in 
the  shout  agreeable  to  themselves,  "  Fanqui,  Fanqui,"  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  absent  of  their  family  to  look 
with  themselves  at  the  "  foreign  devils."  And  now,  one 
is  almost  indignant  at  the  tone  of  humorous  salutation  and 
sometimes  derision  with  which  the  stranger  is  greeted, 
who,  however,  quite  as  much  pleased  with  himself  in  the 
contrast  before  him,  soon  indulges  in  the  better  taste,  and 
smiles  as  he  contemplates  the  scene,  the  curious  scene 
that  now  lies  around  him. 

Having  reached  a  point  of  the  stream  nearly  opposite 
the  foreign  factories,  the  Sylph  let  go  her  anchor.  Small 
boats  were  immediately  alongside,  eager  to  take  us  to  the 
shore ;  and  in  a  few  moments  more,  with  my  trunks,  I 
was  dodging  from  one  line  of  junks  to  another,  in  a  tanka- 
boat  propelled  by  two  Chinese  women,  now  with  oars, 
now  with  long  bamboo  poles,  now  with  the  hands,  as  they 
seized  the  sides  of  a  line  of  anchored  vessels  riding  in  the 
stream,  until,  ere  long,  we  reached  the  point  of  land  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  American  hong. 

No  one  is  more  pleased  than  a  Chinese  with  silver 
coin  ;  none,  the  Chinese  think,  understand  the  value  of  a 
dollar  less  than  a  Fanqui  :  hence  they  charge  a  foreigner 
more  than  ten  times  the  amount  they  would  presume  to 
ask  for  doing  the  same  thing  for  one  of  their  fellow  celes- 
tials. But  a  visiter  at  Canton,  at  these  times,  values  his 
time  more  than  money ;  and  at  a  trifling  expense  for  the 
amusement  I  experienced  by  the  scenes  occurring  before 
me,  I  found  myself  at  the  door  of  the  American  hong, 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Oliphant,  King  &  Co.,  and  Dr.  Parker. 
My  inquiry  for  the  latter  gentleman  soon  brought  me  a 
most  cordial  welcome  to  Canton,  from  Dr.  Parker,  in 
person. 


136 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  137 

SECTION  V. 

CANTON. 

Dr.  Parker.  Bible  of  J.  Brainerd  Taylor.  Residence  at  the  American 
Hong.  Imprisonment  of  the  foreigners.  A  stroll  with  Dr.  Parker.  Chi- 
nese  Temples.  The  dying  beggars.  Call  on  a  wealthy  Chinese.  His 
grounds.  Dr.  Parker  no  cash  doctor.  Ophthalmic  Hospital.  Cases. 
The  opinion  of  the  Chinese  of  Dr.  Parker.  Temple  of  Longevity.  Ce- 
lebrated Budhist.  Temple  at  Hanan.  Sacred  hogs.  City  of  Canton. 
Literary  examinations.  Poetry.  The  Chinese  Language.  Walk  around 
the  city  wall,  and  entrance  into  the  city  through  a  breach  in  the  walls. 
Variety.  Teas.  Leaving  Canton. 

WHILE  at  Macao  I  had  heard  from  Dr.  Parker,  that  he 
believed  he  had  seen  me  in  America ;  and  an  indistinct 
impression  was  on  my  own  mind  that  I  had  heard  my 
friends  mention  his  name,  as  an  acquaintance  of  theirs. 
The  familiar  and  cordial  reception  which  Dr.  Parker  had 
given  me  led  to  the  expression  of  this  idea.  "  Yes,"  Dr. 
P.  replied,  with  his  agreeable  smile,  as  he  turned  to  the 
bookcase  behind  him  and  took  from  it  a  small  morocco- 
covered  Bible ;  "  yes  ;  and  do  you  recognise  this  ?  It  was 
given  me  by  your  sister,  Mrs.  K.  T.,  at  the  moment  of 
my  leaving  New  York."  It  was  a  melancholy  recognition ; 
but  at  such  a  moment,  and  under  such  circumstances,  and 
in  such  hands,  it  was  a  grateful  pleasure  to  see  the  pocket 
Bible  of  my  lamented  brother,  JAMES  BRAINERD  TAYLOR, 
whose  story  has  been  told  for  his  devotion  and  love  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  over  which  identical  little  volume  I 
had  seen  him,  for  hours,  and  daily,  in  absorbed  and  de- 
lightful study.  With  such  an  incident  occurring,  we  could 
not  long  be  strangers.  I  was  soon  afterwards  introduced 
to  Mr.  Morse,  of  the  house  of  Messrs.  O.,  K.  &  Co.,  at 
whose  table,  with  Dr.  Parker,  I  am  to  be  entertained 
during  my  stay  in  Canton. 

THE  HONGS    FOR    THE    FOREIGNERS. 

The  American  hong  is  an  extensive  building,  three 
stories  high,  fronting  the  grounds  on  the  river,  and  extend- 


138  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ing  back  for  some  three  or  four  hundred  feet,  with  an  open 
passage-way,  or  narrow  court,  running  through  its  centre 
from  the  front  to  the  back  walls.  The  building  is  divided 
into  three  compartments,  commencing  with  number  one 
for  the  front,  number  two  for  the  centre,  and  number 
three  for  the  rear  part  of  the  establishment.  Within  this 
range  of  walls  are  the  store-rooms,  and  rooms  occupied 
by  the  comprador  coolies,  and  other  servants  attached  to 
the  hong,  comprising  the  basement  stairs  or  ground-floor, 
and  the  second  story  affording  fine  drawing-rooms  and 
chambers,  both  spacious  and  airy,  two  requisites  for  com- 
fort in  this  climate.  The  top  of  the  building  is  crowned 
by  a  turret,  affording  an  ample  space  for  a  promenade  at 
the  edge  of  evening,  for  gaining  the  cool  breeze,  and  from 
which  an  extensive  view  is  had  of  the  inwalled  city  in  the 
rear,  and  in  front,  of  the  river  with  its  thousand  boats, 
either  lying  in  their  dense  rafts  or  passing  and  repassing 
down  and  up  the  stream. 

The  other  hongs,  or  as  they  are  otherwise  called,  facto- 
ries, which  are  no  more  nor  less  than  extensive  and  con- 
venient brick  residences  and  store-houses  for  the  foreigners, 
according  to  their  several  nations,  are  similar  to  the  Amer- 
ican hong,  and  situated  mostly  on  its  left,  others  on  its 
right.  The  Chinese  hong-merchants,  by  wrhom  the  prin- 
cipal business  is  transacted  with  the  foreigners,  and  who 
legitimately  enjoy  the  monopoly  of  the  foreign  trade,  also 
have  their  factories.  They  are  the  body  of  men,  twelve 
in  number,  through  whom  the  Chinese  government  hold 
communication  with  foreigners,  it  being  deemed  beneath 
the  dignity  of  the  higher  orders  of  the  mandarins  to  hold 
direct  intercourse  with  "  barbarians"  of  the  outer  land,  or 
to  have  any  association  with  the  "  foreign  devils." 

It  was  within  these  buildings  the  foreign  community 
were  confined  during  the  late  troubles  ;  the  streets  leading 
from  the  area,  and  fronting  the  factories,  were  stopped 
with  brick  and  mortar,  and  the  doors  opening  upon  the 
street  from  the  rear  of  the  hongs  were  also  closed  in  the 
same  manner.  A  semicircular  and  triple  tier  of  boats 
were  arranged  on  the  river  in  front  of  the  factories,  so  as 
to  intercept  the  passage  of  the  foreigners,  should  they  at- 
tempt to  make  their  escape  by  crossing  the  river.  Thus 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  139 

were  they  entirely  surrounded,  and  escape  impossible,  as 
long  as  the  government  so  willed  it. 

The  hongs  are  apparently  deserted  now,  in  comparison 
to  what  has  been  unsual  in  times  of  mutual  good  under- 
standing between  the  foreigners  and  the  Chinese.  All  the 
English  have  retired,  with  the  Queen's  commission,  to 
Macao.  The  Americans,  most  of  them,  had  also  left  the 
city,  and  all  others  of  other  nations ;  while  some  one 
member  or  more  of  each  American  house  remains  with 
the  purpose  of  accepting  certain  conditions  for  the  conti- 
nuance of  their  trade — the  English  being  the  party  most 
particularly  involved  in  the  present  disturbances.  The 
streets  leading  from  the  front  grounds  of  the  factories  are 
still  closed,  as  they  were  when  the  foreigners  were  pri- 
soners a  few  days  since,  with  one  exception.  A  strict 
guard  was  kept  during  the  imprisonment  vile  of  the 
foreigners,  and  many  demonstrations  still  present  them- 
selves about  the  premises,  which  show,  besides  the  ab- 
sence of  the  stir  of  business,  that  there  has  been  no  small 
change  here,  and  that  high-handed  measures  have  charac- 
terized the  movements  of  the  ill-informed  and  self-com- 
placent mandarins ;  for  all  which,  if  I  prognosticate  not 
wrongly,  a  "  pay-day"  will  come  which  shall  bear  with  it 
both  information  and  demonstrations  of  foreign  power 
that  will  convince  these  celestials  that  their  inner  land  of 
the  central  kingdom  possesses  not  all  the  might  of  all  the 
whole  earth  ;  and  that  there  is  a  right  which  the  favored 
son  of  heaven  on  his  imperial  throne  at  Pekin  has  never 
dreamed  of,  and  will  learn  to  his  once  astonishment  and 
cost.  i 

The  front  windows  of  the  American  hong  overlook  the 
wide  flagging  running  in  front  of  the  factories.  From 
the  window  of  the  second  story,  therefore,  in  front  of  the 
drawing-room,  we  have  a  fine  view  of  the  passers-by  as 
they  come  down  in  streams  from  old  China-street.  It  is 
amusing  to  witness  the  insuppressible  and  unbounded 
curiosity  of  these  celestials  when  they  find  us  at  the  win- 
dows. They  make  a  full  halt.  The  boys,  who  have 
early  been  taught  to  repeat  the  term  "  Fanqui,"  in  con- 
tempt of  the  foreigner,  gaze,  where  they  are  the  better 
bred,  gravely,  and  then  pass  on ;  while  the  more  mischie- 

39 


140  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

vous  cry  aloud  "  Fanqui !  Fanqui ! "  and,  with  a  shout, 
are  again  on  their  way.  The  elder  pause,  some  with  a 
smile,  while  perhaps  a  thin  and  long-bearded  old  man  ap- 
proaches, and  hesitates  his  step  with  grave  reflections  on 
the  past,  and  with  undefined  musings  in  connection  with 
the  future.  The  late  transactions  here,  make  the  foreigner 
more  than  ever  an  object  of  curiosity  both  to  the  citizen 
and  to  the  visiters  from  the  interior.  While  looking  from 
the  window,  among  others  we  marked  an  aged  Tartar, 
evidently  a  stranger  at  Canton,  while  a  citizen  was  ear- 
nestly discoursing  to  him  and  pointing  out  the  spot,  a 
little  distant  from  the  hong,  where  the  Chinese  was  exe- 
cuted in  front  of  the  factories,  which  led  to  the  pulling 
down  of  the  different  flags,  by  which  the  insult  was  in- 
tended to  be  resented,  and  which  finally  led  to  the  per- 
sonal rencounter  between  the  mob  and  the  residents 
of  the  factories.  They  also  passed  on,  like  hundreds  of 
others,  some  more  grave,  some  less,  some  insultingly ; 
while  they  all,  at  the  distance  of  a  story  beneath  us,  in- 
dulge their  gaze  with  an  insatiable  and  unrestrained 
curiosity. 

RAMBLE  THROUGH  CANTON. 

Towards  evening  I  took  a  stroll  with  Dr.  Parker,  pass- 
ing up  old  China-street,  one  of  the  widest  streets  in  the 
city,  and  composed  of  respectable  shops  on  either  side  ; 
and  in  a  short  time,  we  had  wandered  through  a  number 
of  streets,  presenting  at  once  the  variety  of  this  extensive 
mart  of  the  East.  Th^  streets  are  narrow,  serving  only 
for  foot-passengers,  flagged  with  quarried  granite.  The 
shops  are  open  in  front ;  and  as  you  look  down  these  streets 
you  see  a  range  of  perpendicular  tablets,  designating  the 
different  establishments  in  the  picturesque  character  of  the 
Chinese,  and  generally  in  red  letters.  The  scene  is  unique ; 
and  as  you  look  still  further  on,  the  narrowing  perspective 
converges  until  your  sight  is  entirely  obstructed  by  these 
gorgeous  signs  on  either  side  and  at  every  door,  with  the 
appellation,  or  fancy  name  of  the  establishment,  or  the  real 
name  of  the  proprietors,  or  flowery  mottoes  in  their  fan- 
tastically arranged  characters.  We  passed  shops  contain- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  141 

ing  extensive  collections  of  grotesque  figures  and  antiques, 
in  which  the  Chinese  much  delight  in  the  ornamenting  of 
their  houses  and  gardens ;  valuable  ware  from  Japan  ; 
ornamented  tablets  representing  mountainous  and  rural 
scenes  in  slabs  of  marble,  having  the  appearance  of  mo- 
saics, but  said  by  the  venders  to  be  natural  or  immense 
cameos ;  shops  hung  with  paintings,  arid  filled  with  various 
other  curious  things  in  the  glass  line,  from  chandelier  to 
beads  of  pearl  and  nob  of  mandarin ;  the  paintings,  how- 
ever, all  being  preposterous,  with  the  exception  of  an  oc- 
casional copy  of  some  European  print;  and  the  glass  work 
is  of  the  roughest  kind,  save  the  beautiful  and  delicate 
bead  in  imitation  of  the  pearl,  for  the  decoration  of  the 
neck  and  hair  of  the  Chinese  maid  and  the  bride. 

Having  wandered  through  lines  of  shops  containing 
every  variety  of  valuables  and  trinkets,  dry  goods,  por- 
celain and  silver  ware,  carved  work  in  ivory,  wood,  and 
shell,  and  streets  that  seemed  everywhere  to  be  piled  on 
each  side  with  green  ginger-roots,  and  pickles,  and  eat- 
ables of  every  kind,  we  at  length  reached  a  Chinese  temple ; 
but  were  soon  satisfied  in  contemplating  the  giant  figures 
occupying  the  portal  of  the  entrance  which  opens  into  the 
court  containing  the  central  building  for  the  inner  idols. 
The  priests  gave  us  ready  admission,  while  the  crowd  that 
generally  followed  us  were  excluded. 

The  figures  in  the  temples  at  Canton  are  immensely 
larger  than  those  in  the  Chinese  temples  at  Macao.  The 
central  god  is  generally  sitting  within  a  canopy  with  a 
square  altar  surrounding  him,  on  which  are  incense  urns 
and  taper  stands  and  flower  jars,  made  of  the  "  white 
copper"  of  the  country,  in  which  severally  the  josh-sticks 
are  burned,  the  tapers  placed,  and  the  flowers  arranged  to 
propitiate  and  do  homage  to  the  presiding  deity.  In  this 
temple  the  doctor  assured  me  he  had  witnessed  the  ap- 
proach of  a  female  devotee  to  the  altar.  She  lighted  a 
josh-stick  and  placed  it  in  the  censer.  She  then  drew,  at 
hazard,  a  small  tablet  from  a  bamboo-cup,  at  the  stand  of 
the  priest ;  again  advanced  to  the  altar,  placed  the  palms 
of  her  two  hands  together,  and  knocked  her  head,  or  made 
three  prostrations  before  the  deity  she  worshipped.  She 
then  returned  to  the  priest,  and  handed  him  the  small  tab- 


142  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

let  made  of  the  split  bamboo,  stamped  with  some  Chinese 
characters.  Her  husband  had  gone  from  home  to  travel, 
and  she  desired  in  her  anxiety  to  know  if  he  would  return 
in  safety.  The  priest,  marking  the  character  on  the  tablet, 
turned  to  his  printed  book  and  made  a  comparison,  and  de- 
duced his  inferences.  "  He  would  soon  return  in  safety," 
was  the  reply.  The  woman,  with  a  relieved  countenance, 
presented  the  priest  with  the  usual  fee  for  the  privilege  of 
learning  from  the  god  the  desire  of  her  heart,  and  turned 
delighted  from  the  temple. 

We  left  the  temple  again,  after  declining  the  invitation 
of  the  priest  that  we  should  worship  his  god,  and  repassed 
the  huge  images  at  the  portal  of  the  court,  on  whose  huge 
toes  were  labels,  assuring  the  multitude  that  the  god  would 
grant  to  his  worshippers  various  cures  in  the  healing  art, 
and  wealth,  and  male  heirs  to  support  the  honor  of  his 
house  and  to  inherit  the  father's  possessions. 


We  visited  two  other  temples  ;  in  front  of  the  last  was 
a  square,  diverging  from  the  street,  into  which,  at  night, 
the  beggars  gather,  after  having  spent  their  toil  of  the  day, 
either  to  sleep  and  drown  their  cares,  or  to  linger  out  the 
shaded  hours  in  wakeful  sorrow,  or,  in  neglect,  to  die. 
Never  before  have  I  witnessed  such  a  scene  as  here  was 
presented  to  my  view.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  another  like 
it.  The  number  of  beggars  to-night,  (perhaps  it  was  too 
early  for  the  return  of  many,)  was  not  so  large  as  Dr.  P. 
had  seen  it  before.  But  on  the  hard  flagging,  in  different 
parts  of  this  small  area  of  some  two  hundred  feet  square, 
were  prostrated  different  objects  of  commiseration,  lank, 
lean,  haggard.  Some  were  in  groups,  standing  ;  others 
were  beneath  a  little  matting,  which  was  sufficiently  ele- 
vated on  sticks  to  enable  two  or  three  to  gather  under,  to 
shelter  them  from  the  sun  at  mid-day.  Another  was 
stretched  on  the  hard  stone,  with  his  head  pressing  on  his 
emaciated  hand.  He  could  not  speak ;  but,  at  our  ap- 
proach, as  if  by  instinct,  he  seized  his  basket  and  extended 
it  with  his  skeleton  arm  for  cash.  We  passed  to  another. 
He  was  dying,  as  he  lay  with  his  head  against  the  side- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  143 

wall,  down  which  was  led  a  gutter,  as  if  in  his  last  ex- 
tremity he  had  rolled  his  head  there,  to  catch,  it  might  be, 
a  drop  of  water,  which  none  gave  him,  to  quench  his 
fevered  and  dried  lip.  There  was  a  collection  of  putrid 
water  here,  in  which  his  head  had  partially  fallen.  A  rag- 
ged mat  concealed  his  face,  and  before  the  night-watch 
was  over,  he  would  be  a  corpse,  with  no  one  to  catch  his 
last  word,  which  now,  if  he  would  speak  it,  he  could  not ! 
We  passed  on  to  another,  whose  face  was  uncovered.  His 
eye  was  turned  upon  us,  but  his  articulation  was  gone, — 
his  cheek  fallen, — his  mouth  partially  opened, — his  body 
naked, — beside  him  lay  his  empty  basin,  and  no  one  was 
near  him.  Good  God  !  I  thought,  can  man  be  brought  to 
this, — houseless,  pennyless,  naked,  breadless,  dying,  with 
hundreds  of  the  populace,  well  clad  and  smiling,  passing 
him,  and  abundance  filling  the  neighboring  streets,  and  no 
eye  of  pity  or  hand  of  charity  be  found  to  alleviate  such 
distress,  and  pity  such  wretchedness  !  I  could  not  sleep 
that  night ;  and  I  thought  I  would  never  again  murmur 
against  the  providence  of  God,  in  my  allotments  of  earth. 
We  passed  from  the  scene  and  the  place  where  the  police 
come  every  morning  to  gather  up  the  dead. 

CALL    ON    TINGQUA. 

We  arrived  opposite  a  range  of  private  residences,  in 
better  style  than  any  we  had  before  seen.  We  marked, 
hanging  at  the  entrance  door  of  one  of  the  principal  build- 
ings, two  large  blue  lanterns,  and  at  once  knew,  from  the 
custom  of  the  Chinese,  that  some  one  of  the  inmates  had 
died,  and  that  the  family  were  in  mourning.  Dr.  P.  im- 
mediately explained,  and  said  that  it  was  the  residence  of 
Tingqua,  late  one  of  the  principal  Chinese  hong-mer- 
chants, who  had  died.  He  was  a  patient  of  Dr.  P.'s  ;  and 
his  son  had  returned  from  Peking,  where  he  was  in  office 
of  grade,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to  the  obsequies 
and  to  go  through  the  three  years'  mourning,  according 
to  the  usage  among  the  Chinese,  on  the  death  of  a  father. 
"  I  should  like  to  show  you  the  grounds  of  Tingqua," 
added  the  doctor,  "  as  a  fine  specimen  of  the  residence  of 
a  Chinese  gentleman  of  the  higher  orders." 

39* 


L 


144          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

A  servant  was  at  the  door,  and  Dr.  P.  sent  in  our  names 
to  know  if  his  friend  were  to  be  seen.  A  message  was 
soon  returned,  inviting  us  to  enter.  We  were  soon  met 
by  the  courteous  proprietor,  and  when  we  had  passed  a 
short  distance  through  a  narrow  aisle,  formed  by  the  court 
walls  of  the  buildings,  were  immediately  conducted  to  the 
hall,  where  the  tablets,  which  had  been  presented  on  the 
demise  of  the  father,  were  hanging.  This  spacious  and 
square  room,  opening  in  front  upon  picturesque  grounds, 
broken  by  water-ponds,  was  arranged  with  two  rows  of 
seats  favorably  disposed  for  the  guests  to  peruse  the  rich 
tablets  formed  of  Chinese  large  characters,  in  alabaster, 
on  a  black  ground,  and  suspended  upon  the  walls  as  or- 
namental hangings.  We  passed,  after  a  few  moments' 
respectful  contemplation  of  these  testimonials  to  the  virtues 
of  the  dead,  and  complimentary  expressions  of  sympathy 
to  the  family,  to  a  lovely  bower,  where,  as  we  seated  our- 
selves at  a  round  table,  tea  was  brought  and  served  in 
small  cups  resting  in  silver  stands,  and  with  silver  plates, 
perforated  with  holes,  confining  the  leaves  of  the  tea  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cup.  We  then  took  a  turn  through  the 
grounds,  embraced  within  a  spacious  court,  and  varied 
by  the  intersections  of  water  reservoirs,  in  which  the  mag- 
nificent lotus,  that  sacred  flower  of  Egypt  and  Asia  and 
all  the  East,  was  arranged  in  full  blossom,  in  rows  of  por- 
celain flower-pots.  Here  was  a  verandah  beautifully 
situated — there,  a  little  turret  overlooking  the  grounds  and 
the  water-ponds — and  here  again  a  passage-way,  with 
water  on  either  side  leading  to  opposite  parts  of  the 
garden,  and  lined  with  shrubs  and  flowers,  all  arranged 
in  glazed  flower- pots  of  porcelain — and  here  again  wound 
a  path  through  a  verandah  to  the  side-wall  of  the  court, 
by  which  we  now  reached  a  more  elevated  position,  ar- 
ranged with  seats  and  shaded  by  trees,  and  commanding 
the  principal  parts  of  the  garden.  A  Chinese  book  was 
lying  upon  the  small  central  stand,  as  if  our  literary  friend 
had  just  dropped  his  favorite  classic  for  our  reception,  and 
now  returned  with  us  to  his  favorite  seat.  We  admired 
the  taste  of  the  student  in  the  selection  of  this  point  for  his 
readings,  and  passed  on  to  a  lower  and  open  space  nearly 
surrounded  by  water,  and  lined  with  flower-pots,  where 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          145 

we  were  again  seated  around  a  table  while  tea  was  once 
more  served,  with  fruits  of  various  kinds,  and  sweetmeats, 
and  other  dishes,  and  flowers  gathered  for  our  pleasure. 
But  the  sweetest  flowers  that  presented  themselves,  with 
their  sunny  smiles  and  perfect  confidence  and  freedom, 
were  two  pretty  children — one  a  sweet  boy  with  a  perfect 
head,  and  the  other  a  beautiful  and  smiling  little  girl,  whom 
you  loved  immediately  for  their  artlessness, — and  they 
were  so  neatly  dressed,  and  ornamented  with  taste. 

We  talked  of  Peking — had  we  been  to  Canton  before 
— birds — animals- — and  winter.  In  Peking,  said  our  fine 
specimen  of  a  Chinese  gentleman,  we  have  ice  a  foot  thick, 
and  skating  is  an  amusement.  Have  you  ice  in  your 
country  ?  We  replied  that  we  had  every  variety  of  cli- 
mate in  America,  the  United  States,  extending  through  as 
many  degrees  of  latitude  as  the  celestial  empire ;  and  on 
the  northern  rivers  they  sported  with  their  horses  and 
sleighs,  while  in  the  far  south  ice  is  never  known. 

I  know  not  that  our  friend  was  incredulous,  with  the 
prevalent  ideas  of  his  nation  as  to  the  extent  of  their  own 
empire  in  contrast  with  all  other  lands,  but  having  been 
born  at  Canton,  where  ice  is  seldom  or  never  seen,  and 
experiencing  the  cold  weather  at  Peking,  probably  led 
him  to  the  remark  he  made,  as  if  the  facts  stated  might 
be  curious  to  us,  if  our  country  were  situated  within  a 
torrid  zone. 

My  dark  and  tight  dress,  in  contrast  with  his  own  gos- 
samer and  flowing  robes  of  light  and  rich  grass-cloth, 
seemed  to  strike  him  as  uncomfortable,  and  he  asked  if  I 
did  not  suffer  from  them. 

I  rightly  complimented  the  rich  Chinese  on  the  superi- 
ority, both  in  the  quality  of  the  material  and  taste  in  the 
fashion,  of  the  Chinese  as  to  his  costume  for  this  climate 
over  our  own ;  but  ours  were  for  a  cooler  latitude.  No 
one  can  long  have  accustomed  himself  to  the  costume  of 
a  Chinese  gentleman,  and  not  give  it  the  preference  to  our 
own  for  a  warm  climate.  It  is  more  graceful  as  well  as 
comfortable,  in  its  flowing  folds  and  gracefully  loose  pro- 
portions. 

We  had  lingered  as  long  as  politeness  would  allow ; 
and  kissing  the  little  girl  and  boy,  we  took  our  leave  of 


146  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

this  akeady  successful  aspirant  for  official  and  literary 
rank,  as  he  bowed  us  politely  down  the  narrow  court, 
passing  several  of  the  well-dressed  females  of  the  house- 
hold, who  had  placed  themselves  at  the  different  doors  or 
windows  to  catch  a  glimpse  at  the  foreigners  as  they  left 
the  grounds.  My  estimate  of  the  refinement  and  courtesy 
of  the  higher  class  of  the  Chinese  was  very  favorable,  in 
this  interview  with  the  affluent  son  of  Tingqua.  His 
personal  appearance  was  very  fine — his  age,  probably 
about  twenty-eight.  His  manners  were  sufficiently  digni- 
fied, easy,  familiar,  and  graceful — at  once  securing  your 
respect,  and  intuitively  impressing  you  with  the  assurance 
that  you  are  in  the  presence  of  a  well-bred  gentleman, 
who  would  be  at  his  ease  in  any  society,  and  grace  its 
circles. 

On  our  return  to  the  hong  we  found  the  water  to  have 
retired,  which  was  so  high  when  we  commenced  our  stroll, 
owing  to  the  freshet  now  in  the  river,  that  we  left  the  door 
in  a  boat,  and  were  borne  at  several  places  on  our  course 
on  the  proffered  backs  of  the  celestials.  Otherwise  our 
excursion  might  have  cost  us  wet  feet,  a  thing  of  little 
consequence  to  their  unhosed  insteps. 

DR.    PARKER    AND    THE    OPHTHALMIC    HOSPITAL. 

Dr.  Parker,  in  his  benevolent  practice,  in  connection 
with  the  Ophthalmic  Hospital,  has  secured  unbounded 
confidence  among  the  Chinese,  who  look  upon  him  as 
something  superior  to  humanity,  in  connection  with  the 
many  cures  he  has  effected,  and  operations  he  has  per- 
formed. "  The  Chinese  think  him,"  said  one  of  their  lin- 
guists to  me,  with  a  solemn  air,  "  all  same  as  one  Josh." 
I  had  ample  opportunity  to  witness  the  doctor's  popularity, 
and  the  impression  he  has  made,  as  I  walked  with  him 
through  the  streets.  He  was  often  recognised,  and  an 
undertone  of  respect  would  now  and  then  be  heard  among 
the  crowd,  saying,  "  The  good  heart." — "  The  doctor  who 
cures  blind  eyes." — "  The  doctor  with  the  pitiful  heart." — 
"  The  no  cash  doctor ;"  alluding  to  the  circumstance  that 
Dr.  P.  takes  no  pay  for  his  cures  and  practice.  And  the 
doctor's  large  hands,  too,  seem  here  to  attract  very  gene- 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          147 

ral  attention,  which  (the  noblesse  of  the  west  notwith- 
standing) seem  not  only  to  ennoble  our  benevolent  physi- 
cian, but  tend  to  add  profoundness  to  the  almost  supersti- 
tious veneration  with  which  they  regard  his  person. 
"  What  hands !"  the  less  instructed  in  decorum,  as  the 
crowd  gathers  around,  sometimes  exclaim,  in  surprise  and 
astonishment,  as  if  he  were  indeed  of  the  race  of  the  gods 
they  worship,  which  are  in  all  their  temples  represented 
in  their  huge  proportions.  And  the  amiable  physician 
hesitates  not  to  let  them  compare  their  own  tiny  lingers 
and  palms  with  his,  when  their  curiosity  has  surprised 
from  them  the  ejaculation. 

The  hospital  building  was  closed  during  the  difficulties  ; 
and  while  Dr.  P.  had  private  assurances  of  the  high  es- 
teem with  which  he  was  regarded  by  the  Chinese  au- 
thorities, no  open  demonstration  of  partiality  could  be 
allowed  to  come  before  the  observation  of  the  foreign 
community.  His  hospital  therefore  was  closed — his  pa- 
tients retired — and  he  himself  was  cloistered  within  the 
limits  that  held  the  other  members  of  the  foreign  commu- 
nity— sharing  with  them  their  weal  and  wo.  It  is  hoped 
and  believed  that  Dr.  Parker  will  be  able,  in  a  few  days, 
again  to  enter  on  his  benevolent  action,  which  has  so  far 
been  attended  with  rich  and  even  surprising  success.  At 
the  time  I  write,  Dr.  P.  has  a  private  communication,  ex- 
pressing it  to  be  the  wish  of  the  commissioner,  Lin,  the 
man  who  is  acting  with  so  much  energy  in  the  Chinese 
difficulties,  to  consult  him,  and  he  may  the  next  hour  re- 
ceive a  request  that  he  will  make  him  a  visit  at  his  sta- 
tion, where  he  is  now  attending  to  the  destruction  of  the 
seized  opium. 

It  would  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader,  were  I  to 
give  here  some  of  the  cases  which  have  come  under  the 
treatment  of  Dr.  Parker,  and  have  led  to  so  high  an  ap- 
preciation of  his  benevolence  and  skill  among  the  Chinese, 
as  well  as  among  all  who  know  him.  Indeed,  his  reputa- 
tion "  as  the  foreign  physician  who  cures  all  things,  and 
particularly  restores  sight  to  the  blind,"  has  spread  through- 
out the  empire,  more  or  less,  and  has  drawn  from  various 
parts,  and  from  the  capital  itself,  patients  seeking  for  re- 
lief; and  in  some  instances  have  they  been  desirous,  in  the 


148          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

possession  of  the  sought-for  blessing,  to  do  him  homage, 
and  to  proclaim  his  worth  and  virtues  throughout  the  em- 
pire. The  Chinese  hong-merchants  and  the  magistrates 
of  Canton  have  indirectly  countenanced  the  establishment 
of  the  hospital ;  and  a  number  of  official  characters  have 
found  relief  for  their  maladies,  and  regained  a  sight  long 
lost,  from  the  good  foreigner ;  while  more  than  six  thou- 
sand patients,  during  the  three  years  of  the  existence  of 
the  establishment,  have  been  recipients  of  its  benevolent 
intentions,  and  the  doctor's  unremitted  and  generous  and 
successful  efforts.  The  scenes,  many  of  them,  which  Dr. 
Parker  has  described  to  me  as  having  occurred  during  his 
practice,  have  been  of  much  interest,  and  developed  much 
of  the  Chinese  character,  while  affording  incident  of  the 
most  novel  kind  to  the  eye  of  the  foreigner  ;  and  nowhere 
else,  in  the  absence  of  the  circumstances  and  the  customs 
of  the  Chinese,  could  such  incident  meet  him. 

A  few  facts,  says  Dr.  Parker,  will  illustrate  the  eager- 
ness of  the  people  to  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  the 
hospital.  When  it  was  the  practice  to  admit  patients 
daily,  I  observed  some  of  them,  with  lanterns,  with  which 
they  left  their  homes  at  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, in  order  that  they  might  be  at  the  hospital  rooms  in 
season.  When  the  days  of  admission  were  limited,  they 
sometimes  came  the  preceding  evening,  and  remained  all 
night,  that  they  might  secure  a  ticket  in  the  morning. 
And  there  have  been  applicants  from  other  parts  of  the 
province  as  well  as  from  this  vicinity.  Numbers,  from 
Nanking  and  Peking,  have  called.  Several  tea  merchants 
from  the  north,  or  their  friends,  have  been  treated.  When 
obliged  to  close  the  doors  against  new  admissions,  per- 
sons from  a  distance  would  avail  themselves  of  the  influ- 
ence of  some  foreign  gentleman  or  hong-merchant  to  in- 
tercede for  them.  With  but  rare  exceptions,  unqualified 
confidence  has  been  manifested  by  the  patients.  A  woman 
of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  sixty-five  years  of  age,  who 
had  a  cataract  of  both  eyes,  when  I  expressed  a  doubt 
whether  she  could  bear  to  have  my  knife  put  into  her 
eye,  replied,  "  If  you  like,  you  may  take  them  both  out 
and  put  them  in  again."  Another  patient  had  been  blind 
for  forty  years,  but  on  couching  the  cataract  I  found  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          149 

retina  still  sensible  to  the  light.  A  few  days  after,  when 
1  visited  him,  he  seemed  affected  by  the  kindness  shown 
him,  and  stroking  down  his  long  white  beard  that  reached 
to  his  bosom,  he  said,  "  I  am  now  old,  and  my  beard  is 
long  and  heavy,  but  never  before  have  I  seen  or  heard  of 
such  a  man."  He  then  enumerated  the  several  favors 
which  I  had  done  him,  and  added  in  conclusion,  "  You 
must  be  a  divine  person"  An  old  Tartar  general  who 
had  been  some  time  in  the  hospital,  and  who  was  operated 
upon  for  a  cataract  with  which  he  was  afflicted  in  both 
eyes,  as  he  was  leaving,  remarked,  "  I  am  now  eighty 
years  old,  my  beard  is  very  long  ;  (reaching  to  his  breast ;) 
I  have  been  in  office  forty  years ;  I  have  been  in  all  the 
eighteen  provinces  of  the  empire,  but  never  before  have 
known  a  man  that  does  the  things  that  you  perform,  and 
for  which  you  receive  no  reward.  O,  what  virtue  !  the 
nation's  great  arm.  Under  heaven  there  is  no  other  like 
you."  And  more  in  the  same  adulatory  strain. 

The  following  is  one  among  the  cases  which  have  been 
treated  by  Dr.  Parker. 

"  A  young  lady  from  Nanking,  Le  Awoo,  aged  nine- 
teen, suffered  from  a  disease  of  the  left  eye  from  her  infan- 
cy. At  this  time  a  white  spot  with  a  fleshy  excrescence 
covered  the  apex  of  the  cornea,  and  the  blood-vessels  were 
enlarged  and  passed  over  the  cornea.  She  was  the  eldest 
daughter  of  a  silk  merchant.  The  father  was  informed 
that  the  eye  at  least  might  be  prevented  from  becoming 
worse,  and  perhaps  the  vision  be  improved.  He  said  he 
confided  the  case  to  my  care — had  he  not  confidence,  he 
should  not  have  applied.  By  repeated  applications  of 
lunar  caustic  the  fleshy  excrescence  was  destroyed  ;  the 
blood-vessels  were  divided  at  the  union  of  the  cornea  and 
sclerotica ;  the  general  health  was  attended  to.  and  after 
applying  leeches  to  the  temples  a  blister  was  ordered. 
New  granulations  filled  up  the  depression  in  the  cornea 
made  by  the  caustic  The  blood-vessels  of  the  cornea 
became  indistinct  and  the  sight  improved,  and  at  a  little 
distance  a  stranger  could  scarcely  perceive  that  it  differed 
from  the  other  eye.  Just  before  the  term  of  the  hospital 
closed,  the  father  and  two  daughters  came  to  take  a  final 
leave,  bringing  presents,  which  were  declined,  saying  that 


150          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

it  was  abundant  reward  that  the  treatment  of  his  daughter 
had  been  successful ;  but  he  would  not  take  them  away. 
The  patient  and  her  little  -sister,  aged  thirteen  years,  then 
came  into  the  room,  attended  by  a  servant  with  a  large 
crimson  blanket.  The  first  impression  was,  this  is  a  part 
of  the  present.  It  was  however  spread  at  my  feet,  and 
the  two  young  ladies  knelt  upon  it.  They  were  authori- 
tatively told  that  it  was  not  required  nor  permitted  to 
Kow-tow.  They  heeded  it  not ;  and  though  I  took  the 
eldest  by  the  collar  to  prevent  it,  both  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing their  heads  twice  to  the  floor.  This  was  done  in  the 
presence  of  a  large  assembly  of  patients  and  several  Eu- 
ropeans. The  father  was  dressed  like  an  officer,  and  his 
daughters  wore  splendid  silk  gowns,  with  the  richest 
embroidery." 

In  the  thousands  of  cases  which  have  come  under  the 
doctor's  treatment,  many  opportunities,  of  course,  must 
have  occurred,  and  which  the  consideration  of  the  grand 
end  at  which  Dr.  P.  is  aiming  in  all  that  he  does,  would 
lead  him  to  improve,  for  turning  the  attention  of  the  Chi- 
nese to  the  true  system  of  religion  in  opposition  to  the  fan- 
tasies and  superstitions  of  the  worshipper  of  Confucius, 
Budha,  and  the  thousand  paternal  gods  of  the  celestial  em- 
pire. And  when  patients,  with  hearts  overflowing  with 
gratitude,  would  have  bowed  in  adoration  before  him,  he 
has  raised  them,  and  with  the  spirit  of  the  humble  Chris- 
tian, pointed  them  to  the  true  God,  to  whom  only  power 
and  praise  belong.  And  even  when  success,  in  the  advance 
of  the  disease,  could  neither  be  expected,  or  relief  be  giv- 
en, opportunities  have  offered  when  the  disappointed  pa- 
tients have  seen  how  truly  the  sympathy  of  a  Christian 
physician  has  been  given  them,  as  they  have  been  pointed 
to  the  Being  who  hath  pity  for  the  sorrowful.  Such  a  case 
we  see  in  a  patient  by  the  name  of  Akeen,  of  whom  Dr. 
P.  remarks,  that  he  gave  him  but  little  encouragement 
when  he  came  to  the  hospital,  and  the  day  he  dismissed 
him,  after  kind  treatment,  which  disclosed  that  the  organs 
of  his  eyes  were  so  far  destroyed  that  light  again  could 
never  be  enjoyed,  "the  patient  manifested  much  gratitude," 
said  the  doctor,  "  for  what  had  been  done  in  the  improve- 
ment of  his  health  and  for  the  attempt  to  restore  sight.  It 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  151 

was  a  remark  of  one  of  my  respected  medical  preceptors 
to  his  students,  that  when  the  materia  medica  of  earth  failed, 
they  might  yet  point  their  patients  to  that  of  heaven.  I 
have  experienced  this  satisfaction  in  the  case  of  this  young 
man.  His  eyes  suffused  with  tears  as  I  took  him  by  the 
hand  ;  and  with  several  Chinese  listening,  told  him  through 
my  interpreter,  of  the  world  in  which  he  may  see,  though 
never  again  on  earth — that  in  heaven  none  were  blind,  none 
deaf,  none  sick.  I  also  endeavored  to  point  out  the  way 
for  him  to  find  admittance  there." 

A  volume  of  interest  might  be  written  in  connection 
with  Dr.  Parker's  action  at  Canton.  But  further  space 
cannot  be  given  to  it  here.  Dr.  P.  is  every  way  the  per- 
son desirable  for  the  location  and  the  calling  he  occupies 
and  pursues. 

On  the  16th,  the  day  succeeding  my  arrival  in  Canton, 
being  Sunday,  I  preached  in  the  British  chapel  of  the 
Company's  hong.  The  American  missionaries  supply  the 
pulpit  here,  generally,  the  chapel  having  been  courteously 
tendered  them  for  that  purpose.  Dr.  Parker,!  believe,  has 
the  charge  of  the  services,  and  officiates  regularly,  or  al- 
ternately with  Rev.  Mr.  Bridgman,  when  Mr.  B.  is  here. 
The  Prayer  Book  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  of 
America  is  used,  with  a  few  variations,  to  meet  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  mixed  community.  For  instance,  in  the 
prayer  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  word 
"  Kings  and  all  others  in  authority"  is  substituted.  The 
gentlemen,  not  episcopal  in  their  orders,  generally  use, 
besides  the  service  thus  slightly  altered,  an  extemporane- 
ous prayer  before  the  sermon.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Hand- 
son  and  Lockwood,  when  at  Canton,  officiated,  in  their 
turn,  in  the  same  chapel. 

TEMPLE    OF    LONGEVITY. 

On  Monday  I  visited,  in  company  with  Dr.  Parker,  the 
Temple  of  Longevity,  one  of  the  principal  establishments 
of  the  Chinese  Budhist  priests.  The  priests  welcomed  us, 
Dr.  P.  being  already  known  to  some  of  them.  They  con- 
ducted us  through  the  buildings  of  the  Temple;  from  the 
top  of  the  main  one,  a  fine  view  presents  itself  of  the  great- 

40 


152  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

er  part  of  the  suburbs  of  the  city — the  city  walls,  near  which 
the  temple  is  situated — and  an  extended  view  into  the  city 
within  the  walls. 

At  the  covered  portal,  forming  an  entrance  into  the  court, 
•within  which  rises  the  principal  and  centra]  building,  and 
within  a  recess  guarded  by  bars,  are  four  statues,  two  on 
either  side,  larger  than  life.  On  the  toe  of  one  of  these  sub- 
lime personages,  sitting  with  one  foot  elevated,  quite  a  num- 
ber of  Chinese  labels  were  displayed,  among  other  things 
proffering  to  give  his  worshippers  toe-nails  when  lost. 
The  opposite  deities  as  confidently  assured  their  votaries 
that  they  would  secure  to  them  children  of  either  sex,  as 
they  might  desire — the  one  proffering  male,  the  other  fe- 
male heirs.  But  both  of  them,  I  presume,  on  the  condition 
that  the  seekers  of  such  gifts  should  reward  the  priests 
who  served  at  the  altars  of  their  godships,  for  their  trouble 
of  throwing  the  tablets  for  them,  and  divining  with  their 
bamboo-labels  and  sybil-leaves. 

In  the  principal  hall  of  the  floor-rooms,  the  god,  eleva- 
ted on  an  altar  some  feet  from  the  floor,  was  canopied 
around  by  the  usual  fixtures,  with  openings  for  the  expo- 
sure of  his  most  comfortable  and  gilded  person  on  the  four 
sides  of  the  altar.  Incense  urns,  artificial  flower  stands, 
and  taper-supporters  occupied  the  front  of  the  altar  where 
the  josh-sticks  are  burned,  the  flowers  placed,  and  the  ta- 
pers lighted  and  melted  away. 

The  temples  of  the  Chinese,  which  are  built  regularly, 
are  two  stories  high,  a  piazza  running  quite  around  each 
story,  from  which  you  enter  the  sacred  rooms  constituting 
the  centre  of  the  building.  The  upper  hall  of  this  temple 
is  a  spacious  room,  occupying  the  whole  area  of  the  sec- 
ond floor ;  and  in  the  centre  of  this  upper  hall  sits  the 
complacent,  fat,  and  dimple-cheeked,  corpulent,  cross-leg- 
ged, gilded,  smiling,  almost  laughing  god  of  longevity — a 
perfect  contradiction  in  his  air,  of  what  one  of  my  early 
instructors  would  have  guessed,  whom  I  have  more  than 
once  heard,  with  an  oblique  allusion  to  a  certain  class  of 
persons,  and  writh  a  spice  of  sarcasm  on  the  lip,  repeat  the 
words  "  slumbering  fat."  His  deityship  to-day  was  wide 
awake.  And  there  was  a  most  expressive  air  of  comfort 
about  the  youthful-looking  fat  old  gentleman,  of  whom, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  153 

should  an  earthquake  or  any  other  convulsion  of  nature 
happen  to  shake  from  his  six  or  seven  feet  elevation,  it 
would  puzzle  his  best  serving  priest,  with  all  the  revela- 
tions he  may  have  received  in  connection  with  his  divin- 
ing apparatus,  to  declare  which  way  said  youthful  and 
fleshy  old  gentleman  would  roll  along  the  floor — whether 
from  head  to  feet  and  from  feet  to  head,  and  from  head  to 
feet  again,  or  like  a  pipe  of  wine,  upon  his  bulging  sides. 
As  for  such  legs  as  said  old  gentleman  has,  with  all  their 
hundred  weights  of  muscle,  comfortable  indeed  for  sitting 
a  la  Turk,  rather  a  la  Budha,  they  are  altogether  too  duck- 
like  to  be  thought  of  in  any  necessity  of  support  for  such 
a  rotundity  of  person  as  this  godship  of  longevity,  or  to 
be  taken  into  any  account  which  would  estimate  the 
chances  as  to  the  probable  course  which  his  godship  would 
roll,  in  case  of  his  being  thrown  from  his  present  most  com- 
fortable attitude  of  rest. 

This  temple  is  apparently  the  most  popular  one,  and  cer- 
tainly on  the  largest  and  most  respectable  scale  of  any  of 
the  temples  situated  on  the  Canton  side  of  the  river.  And 
this  upper  hall  of  the  Temple  of  Longevity  affords  a  con- 
venient and  spacious  apartment  for  the  grandees  to  assem- 
ble in,  on  their  festive  days  of  particular  worship.  The 
god  has  lately  been  repaired,  and  his  decayed  person  of 
antiquity  has  given  place  for  the  newly  gilded  statue,  in  the 
shape  of  a  Chinese  Lambert.  The  development  of  mus- 
cles in  this  specimen  of  wood,  cut  into  something  of  a  form, 
resembling  the  figure  of  a  man,  is  superior  to  any  thing 
else  in  the  way  of  statuary  that  I  have  seen  in  the  Chinese 
temples,  and  is  not  very  discreditable  to  the  artist,  when 
the  idea  designed  to  embody  in  wood  is  considered.  The 
figure,  at  once,  strikes  the  visiter  as  a  representation  of  a 
comfortable  portly  old  gentleman  in  retirement,  living  upon 
the  abundance  of  this  life's  good  things,  and  as  much  good 
ale  as  would  render  his  yet  unwrinkled  cheeks  rosy,  and 
his  corpulent  person  a  very  prayer  itself  that  one  may  have 
rest.  A  smooth-faced  and  portly  young  priest,  who  ac- 
companied us  through  the  buildings,  seemed  alike  enough 
to  the  gilded  god  in  his  proportions  and  physiognomy, 
though  in  miniature,  to  have  been  a  near  kin,  or  else  haa 
sat  as  the  model  for  the  statue  ;  and  only  wanted  size  and 


154          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

age  to  be  its  fac-simile.  He  was  a  good-natured,  full- 
cheeked,  shaven-headed  priest,  that  flourished,  in  the  best 
keeping,  as  his  rotund  person  seemed  to  declare. 

We  were  joined  by  a  thinner  and  taller  member  of  the 
body,  while  we  were  admiring  the  prospect  from  the  upper 
verandah  of  the  temple, which,  with  its  roofed  and  spacious 
area,  extends  quite  around  the  building.  He  was  in  black, 
and  is  the  principal  of  the  establishment,  more  dignified 
than  the  other,  and  at  times  not  less  communicative.  They 
both  accompanied  us  through  the  grounds,  which  are  not 
in  the  best  keeping  ;  and  the  abundance  of  a  species  of 
cresses,  in  appearance  covering  almost  the  whole  surface 
of  the  water-ponds  within  the  premises,  gives  a  stagnant 
aspect  to  these  otherwise  ornamental  reservoirs.  In  these 
ponds  flocks  of  ducks  were  sailing,  feeding  upon  this  weed 
upon  the  surface  of  the  water ;  and  here,  as  elsewhere 
throughout  all  the  Chinese  temples  and  the  private  resi- 
dences of  extent,  the  gorgeous  and  sacred  water-lily  pre- 
vails, in  porcelain  pots.  We  were  conducted  to  a  small 
Square  room,  fronting  the  most  pleasant  part  of  the  grounds, 
and  tea  was  served,  with  a  tray  of  sweetmeats  of  various 
kinds,  each  species  of  fruit  occupying  its  division  on  the 
same  waiter,  containing  the  lichee — a  very  agreeable  dried 
fruit,  and  yet  more  delicious  in  its  undried  state — dates, 
dried  melon-seeds,  ginger,  citron,  Chinese  olives,  beech- 
nuts, and  last,  but  not  least  peculiar,  as  they  seemed  to  us 
of  uncelestial  tastes,  roasted  beans.  We  chatted  for  a 
while,  as  we  sipped  the  uncreamed  and  unsugared  tea,  and 
partook  of  the  variety  of  the  waiter  resting  upon  the  cen- 
tre-table about  which  we  sat.  It  was  inquired  of  the  ab- 
bot (we  use  terms  known  to  designate  stations  with  titles 
unknown,  as  this  person  was  at  the  head  of  some  one  hun- 
dred priests  of  the  establishment)  if  there  were  nunneries 
embraced  in  their  system.  He  answered  no ;  and  I  know 
not  the  idea  which  seemed  pleasantly  to  strike  him,  which 
however  led  to  the  remark,  as  he  placed  his  hand  upon  the 
head  of  a  fine-looking  boy  beside  him,  some  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  "  Budha  sent  me  down  this  shaver  in 
an  egg  about  a  month  since,  which  produced  him."  The 
sweetmeats  were  very  fine,  some  of  them,  and  I  so  re- 
marked complimentary,  but  the  abbot  replied  that  "  they 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          155 

were  very  indifferent,"  like  some  peculiar  persons  I  have 
known,  who  greatly  regretted  that  they  had  not  that  which 
was  better  to  give,  when  they  were  giving,  as  they  knew, 
the  very  best  in  the  world. 

We  returned  through  the  streets,  being  the  lions  of  the 
way,  and  "  Fanqui,  Fanqui,"  ringing  ever  and  anon  in  our 
ears,  while  a  mob  of  children,  both  small  and  grown,  sur- 
rounded us,  arid  the  women  rushed  to  their  screened  door- 
ways to  catch,  as  we  passed,  a  view  of  the  foreigners,  which 
seemed  to  be  an  era  in  their  experience,  and  gleeful  now 
as  unfrequent,  as  I  had  opportunity  occasionally  to  observe, 
while  I  lingered  a  short  distance  in  the  rear ;  and  the  curi- 
ous sex,  in  the  indulgence  of  their  inquisitive  propensity, 
suffered  themselves  to  be  drawn  half  way  out  beyond  their 
screens  in  their  gaze  after  the  receding  stranger,  and  ap- 
parently to  the  great  surprise  at  their  own  presumption  as 
they  found  another  "  Fanqui'  almost  confronting  them  as 
he  came  up  so  unexpectedly  and  near  to  them;  and  in 
again  to  their  inner  apartment  they  would  dash,  as  rapidly 
as  their  small  feet  and  waddling  gait  would  allow  them. 

The  whole  community  are  evidently  on  the  qui  vive 
at  this,  moment,  in  connection  with  the  late  difficulties 
between  the  foreigners  and  the  Chinese  authorities  and 
mobs. 

We  are  the  first  of  the  foreigners  who  have  ventured 
far  into  the  suburbs  since  the  shutting  up  of  the  streets 
which  lead  into  the  square  of  the  factories.  On  my  arrival 
at  Canton,  it  was  not  deemed  prudent  to  wander  too  much 
about  town,  but  still  it  was  believed  a  few  days  more 
would  secure  as  much  freedom  to  the  foreign  residents  as 
they  had  ever  enjoyed.  For  the  present,  however,  the 
small  boats  are  prohibited  from  passing  on  the  river  ;  and 
the  pleasure  boats  belonging  to  the  different  factories  here, 
are  seen  lying  within  the  paling  in  front  of  the  factories, 
where  they  have  been  placed  by  the  Chinese  authorities 
since  the  enclosures  of  the  vacant  lots  have  been  made 
between  the  river  and  the  hong  houses. 

These  areas  in  front  of  the  foreign  factories  will  form 
pleasant  promenades  by  and  by,  so  soon  as  they  become 
coated  with  grass.  But  the  boats  alluded  to  are  mostly 
neglected,  having  been  included  in  the  estimate  of  the 

40* 


156          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

English  of  their  losses,  and  which,  with  the  millions  of 
other  damages  they  have,  or  think  they  have  received, 
will  be  demanded,  including  the  amount  of  the  opium 
which  they  have  resigned  to  the  Chinese  authorities,  and 
which  demand  either  the  Chinese  will  have  to  meet,  or 
suffer  reprisals  (so  we  think  the  future  will  say)  upon  their 
commerce,  and  perhaps  yield  to  the  urgent  request  of 
British  arms  a  portion  of  their  territory. 

TEMPLE    AT    HANAN. 

It  was  doubtful,  in  the  present  circumstances  of  the 
times,  whether  I  should  be  able  to  get  over  the  river  to 
Hanan  to  visit  the  celebrated  temple  there,  deemed  the 
most  magnificent  in  the  southern  part  of  the  empire,  if  not 
equalling  any  within  the  celestial  kingdom.  So  writers 
have  spoken  of  it ;  and  persons  who  have  enjoyed  oppor- 
tunities assure  me  that  it  is  a  very  creditable  specimen  of 
the  best  order  of  the  Budhist  temples  of  China. 

The  story  of  its  present  prosperous  circumstances,  and 
the  high  esteem  with  which  it  has  been  held,  is  this:  After 
the  success  of  the  first  Tartar  invader,  his  son  was  sent  to 
subdue  the  remaining  opponents  of  the  usurper,  who  held 
out  against  his  authority  in  the  south.  The  general  ar- 
rived with  his  conquering  army,  and  entirely  subdued  the 
south  Canton,  and  entered  the  town  of  Hanan  with  the 
intention,  agreeably  to  the  royal  mandate,  to  put  to  the 
sword,  without  discrimination,  the  opposers  of  the  con- 
queror's power.  An  attempt  upon  an  invulnerable  priest 
of  the  temple  at  Hanan  caused  the  upraised  arm  of  the 
prince,  who,  in  person,  was  about  to  take  the  priest's  life, 
to  be  withered  in  the  attempt.  The  priest  restored  the 
use  of  the  arm  to  the  astonished  general,  and  petitioned 
that  the  lives  of  all  the  people  of  Hanan,  on  condition  of 
submission  to  the  new  power,  should  be  spared.  This 
was  done.  The  prince  petitioned  his  royal  father.  The 
inhabitants,  to  evince  their  gratitude,  brought  gifts  to  the 
temple,  and  royal  beneficence  enriched  it,  and  the  humble 
establishment  rose  into  distinction,  as  one  of  the  most 
richly  endowed  temples  of  the  kingdom. 

Dr.  Parker's  popularity  among  the  Chinese  and  favorable 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  157 

repute  with  the  mandarins  here  would  secure  the  privi- 
lege of  crossing  to  Hanan  if  it  could  be  obtained  by  any 
one.  His  wish  was  mentioned  to  a  linguist,  with  the  as- 
surance that  we  did  not  wish  to  create  any  "  bobbery," 
but  very  peacefully  to  visit  Hanan  and  then  to  return. 
The  linguist  said  he  would  see,  and  came  back  the  next 
morning  with  the  assurance  that  the  boat  of  one  of  the 
hong  merchants,  whom  he  was  requested  to  consult,  would 
be  ready  for  us  immediately  after  dinner,  which  would 
allow  of  our  reaching  the  temple  in  time  to  see  the  priests 
at  their  worship  or  afternoon  vespers,  at  about  half-past 
four. 

A  number  of  the  officers  from  the  Columbia  and  John 
Adams  had  arrived  during  the  week,  and  an  invitation 
was  extended  to  them  by  Dr.  Parker  to  accompany  us. 

We  crossed  the  river  and  were  soon  at  the  entrance  to 
the  court  of  the  temple.  The  first  portal  was  character- 
ized by  two  large  statues,  in  better  keeping  and  on  a  still 
larger  scale  than  those  before  seen,  being  some  fifteen  feet 
in  height.  As  you  pass  into  the  court  you  traverse  a  fine 
wide  pavement  flagged  with  granite  slabs  and  leading  up 
the  gradual  ascent  to  the  portal,  which  forms  the  entrance 
into  the  second  court  within  which  the  various  buildings 
of  the  temple  are  placed.  It  is  a  spacious  area  which  is 
inwalled,  and  passing  the  portal,  with  two  immense  statues 
on  either  side  of  the  entrance  within  their  bowers,  still 
larger  than  the  custodes  at  the  portal  of  the  outer  court, 
you  advance  by  a  gradual  ascent  to  the  main  temple, 
spacious,  with  its  upper  and  lower  hall  surrounded  with 
its  verandahs.  The  priests  were  already  at  their  mystic 
vespers  within  the  lower  hall,  a  spacious  apartment,  with 
the  altar  of  their  Budha  nearer  to  the  furthest-ill  wall  than 
the  front,  but  around  which  they  were  moving  in  solemn 
and  monotonous  chant  of  the  sacred  name  of  their  god. 
Again  they  rested  in  front  of  the  altar,  while  one  of  their 
number  performed  the  three  times  three  knockings  of  the 
head  upon  the  floor,  and  the  chant  continuing  in  the  most 
monotonous  under  and  even  tone  of  "  Fuh-o-me-ta-to — o- 
me-ta-to-Fuh,"  I  ever  heard.  Again  they  marched  to  the 
same  monotonous  sound  as  they  circled  the  altar,  with 
the  palms  of  their  hands  pressed  together,  and  held,  with 


158  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  fingers  upward,  against  their  breast,  while  a  string  of 
beads  rested  between  the  thumbs  and  the  edges  of  the  hand. 
They  were  a  curious  spectacle,  robed  in  yellow  garments 
most  of  them,  the  rest  in  black,  with  shaven  heads,  and 
faces  as  solemn  as  if  the  bell  which  one  of  their  number 
struck  to  mark  their  time,  were  the  death-knell,  or  funeral 
requiem  recited  in  anticipation  of  their  own  obsequies, 
which  some  spirit  had  told  them  would  occur  on  the 
morrow. 

A  priest  showed  us  through  the  different  divisions  of 
the  buildings,  one  of  the  halls  containing  at  either  end 
twelve  gilded  statues  larger  than  life,  some  with  black 
beards,  some  with  red  beards,  some  with  no  beards  at  all. 
In  the  hands  of  some  were  the  instruments  of  war,  in  the 
hands  of  others,  instruments  of  peace;  in  others,  the  sword, 
the  spear,  the  hatchet,  the  knife,  the  rose,  the  palm,  the 
harp,  together  representing  the  ancient  sages  to  whom 
the  hall  is  dedicated,  with  veneration  and  worship.  The 
hall  is  otherwise  hung  with  tablets,  the  sages  occupying 
their  places  within  a  glass  partition  at  either  end  of  the 
room,  and  the  central  altar  of  the  hall  arranged  in  front  of 
the  god  with  the  usual  paraphernalia  of  the  censer,  the 
flower-vase,  and  the  taper-stand  for  the  consuming  of 
josh-sticks,  holding  the  fading  flowers,  and  the  light  from 
the  melting  wax. 

All  in  life  is  marked  with  change,  and  decay  is  stamped 
on  all  that  is  material.  What  a  burlesque,  I  thought  as  I 
stood  in  the  Temple  of  Longevity,  was  the  crumbled  god 
who  offered  long  years  to  his  votaries,  while  he  could  not 
preserve  his  own  person  from  the  dust,  but  had  lately 
been  supplanted  by  a  new  image,  and  yet  still  confided  in 
by  a  deluded  and  unthinking  people !  And  here,  as  I  stood 
looking  on  these  statues  and  the  god  within  the  main 
altar,  how  cold  seemed  the  religion  that  cherished  such  a 
system !  The  most  it  promised  was,  that  when  the  soul 
left  the  body  it  might  become  the  resident  of  some  animal, 
and  again  pass  through  a  series  of  other  animals,  in  end- 
less transmigrations;  and  as  its  chief  blessedness,  be  finally 
absorbed  into  the  Budha  they  worshipped.  Blessed  reli- 
gion of  Jesus  Christ !  thou  dost  open  before  the  wishful 
spirit  that  longs  after  immortality,  consistent  hopes,  meet- 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  159 

ing  its  wants,  and  pointing  out  the  way  to  a  blissful  state 
of  endless  life.  The  body  may  go  back  to  its  mother 
dust,  but  the  spirit  shall  enter  on  its  course  of  thought 
and  action  suitable  to  its  being,  in  a  state  where  it  shall 
enjoy  the  changeless  friendship  of  its  God,  and  of  the  good 
and  the  holy,  in  the  happy  residence  of  the  ransomed,  the 
intellectual,  moral,  and  immortal  spirits.  God  give  me 
gratitude  in  the  possession  of  his  Word  and  an  education 
in  its  precepts. 

There  was  nothing  of  interest  about  these  figures  to  the 
eye  of  one  who  has  formed  any  just  notions  of  the  natural 
developments  of  the  human  form.  The  immense  statues 
at  the  portals  are  huge  monsters  of  beings,  neither  divine 
nor  human,  and  convey  no  positive  sentiment  save  that  of 
power  and  anger,  which  is  the  result  of  their  hugeness 
and  paint. 

There  was,  however,  one  tasteful  thing  within  the  Hall 
of  the  Sages,  and  it  graces  the  spot  wherever  it  may  be 
seen, — for  beautiful  nature  is  always  lovely.  I  allude  to  a 
large  vase  of  natural  flowers,  freshly  gathered  and  placed 
upon  the  altar  of  the  god.  Without  the  permission  of  the 
oracle,  but  with  the  consent  of  one  of  his  votaries,  I 
plucked  a  beautiful  flower  from  the  gorgeous  bouquet,  as 
a  thing  that  seemed  to  rebuke,  with  its  soft  loveliness,  the 
rough  features  of  ugliness  and  disproportion  everywhere 
seen  around,  and  now  would  do  the  kind  office  of  soothing 
a  restless  sensibility  that  ever  attends  me,  on  the  per- 
ception of  unfitness  in  the  combination  of  things  or  cir- 
cumstances around  me. 

There  is  one  curiosity  odd  enough  about  these  premises 
of  the  temple  of  Hanan.  In  one  part  of  the  court  there 
is  a  pen  for  some  dozen  fat  hogs,  kept  with  a  sacred  re- 
spect for  their  lives  and  good  health  and  luxurious  living. 
More  in  keeping  I  thought  it  would  have  been  had  their 
swine-ships  been  attaches  to  the  Temple  of  Longevity,  so 
nearly  allied  they  seemed  to  be  in  proportions  to  the  cor- 
pulent knight  of  that  establishment.  But  here  they  were, 
and  most  comfortable  specimens  of  the  pork  species  they 
certainly  are,  those  twelve  hogs.  They  die  not,  so  far  as 
I  learned, — they  were  too  lazy,  or  too  dignified,  or  too 
wilful  to  rise  at  our  presence,  though  proper  consideration 


160  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ought  to  be  had  to  the  usual  manners  of  that  species  of 
animal,  when  treating  of  their  responsibilities  on  the  re- 
ception of  visiters,  knowing  that  their  unsanctified  race, 
without  these  consecrated  enclosures,  act  ever  as  a  con- 
tradiction and  exception  to  that  otherwise  universal  law 
of  motion,  that  a  body  moves  in  the  line  of  direction  in 
which  the  face  is  impressed  ;  for  a  sailor  well  knows,  that 
to  get  a  pig  on  board  ship  he  must  seize  his  tail  and 
pull  him  in  an  opposite  direction.  But,  the  laws  of  motion 
apart,  these  swine  (perhaps  there  were  but  eleven)  have 
a  very  comfortable  house;  the  premises  are  kept  clean, 
and  they  themselves  are  fed,  until,  had  they  ever  read 
Shakspeare,  they  might  cry  out  "  Hold — enough  !"  They 
retain  their  incumbent  position  as  long  as  they  choose, 
but,  that  they  occupy  a  standing  attitude,  the  length  of 
time  they  would  choose,  admits  of  a  question — as  it 
seems  doubtful  if  such  small  legs  could  very  long  sup- 
port such  round  hundreds  of  fat.  My  own  opinion  is 
that  they  are  not  free  agents  in  this  matter,  and,  there- 
fore, as  it  is  said,  " necessitas  non  habet  legs"  I  con- 
clude that  they  yield,  as  good  Budhists,  to  the  law  of 
necessity,  when  they  can  stand  no  longer,  and  submit 
themselves,  as  quiet  fatalists,  to  the  favorite  doctrine  of 
most  of  the  Orientals,  and  not  less  especially  of  the  Chinese. 
It  is  thought,  I  believe,  that  however  immortal  may  be 
the  lives  of  these  novel  specimens  of  "  otium  cum  digni- 
tate,"  that,  occasionally,  one  of  their  number  disappears, 
and  as  often  is  supplied  by  the  lay  devotees,  without 
charge  to  the  fraternity. 

We  were  conducted  to  the  reception  hall,  after  we  had 
gone  the  round  of  the  buildings,  through  the  grounds, 
flower-garden,  or  an  apology  for  what  had  once  probably 
been  such  when  the  grounds  were  in  better  keeping,  and 
saw  at  the  extremity  of  the  premises  the  reservoir,  where 
the  ashes  of  the  priests  are  consigned,  after  they  have  been 
gathered  from  the  funeral  pyre.  Here  the  principal  priest 
met  us,  and  with  considerable  urbanity  endeavored  to 
make  our  visit  a  pleasant  one.  His  apparent  amiable  de- 
sire commended  him  to  our  kind  wishes,  and  Dr.  P.  desired 
A-hoy  to  say  to  him, that  when  he  crossed  the  river  to  Can- 
ton, he  would  be  pleased  to  see  him.  "  Oh  no,  Meester 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  161 

Parker,"  replied  A-hoy,  as  he  hesitated  to  interpret  the 
courteous  invitation  to  the  abbot ;  "  you  would  never  cease 
to  have  him  present,  Meester  Parker,  if  you  once  invite 
him.  Best  first  know  him,  then  invite."  The  shrewd 
young  Chinese  was  laughed  at,  and  the  invitation  was 
turned  into  thanks  for  the  priest's  politeness,  with  assurances 
that  we  had  been  greatly  gratified.  And  notwithstanding 
A-hoy's  pre-admonition,  Dr.  P.  himself  assured  the  abbot 
that  he  had  medicines,  and  with  pleasure  would  supply 
him  with  any,  in  case  he  should  need,  if  he  would  call  at 
the  American  hong.  The  dark-robed  Budhist  seemed 
much  pleased,  and  indicated  that  he  should  not  be  late  in 
his  application. 

And  that  same  A-hoy — I  shall  never  forget  the  peculiar 
and  exquisite  smile  that  graced  his  fine  features.  It  was 
the  perfection  of  effeminate  loveliness,  without  detracting 
from  the  manly  features  of  the  young  Chinese.  I  know 
not  how  he  may  be  esteemed  in  his  place,  but  I  do  know 
that  there  was  an  interest  of  expression  about  his  face 
which  would  immortalize  a  sculptor  to  fix  it  in  marble. 

We  returned  to  the  boat  and  found  that  the  hong  mer- 
chant, whose  politeness  had  furnished  us  with  his  fine  boat, 
had  provided  a  variety  of  fruits  also,  to  await  us  on  our 
return  to  re-occupy  it.  We  ate  of  the  fruits ;  and  A-hoy 
asked,  "  Will  you  have  water,  gen-tle-mens  ?"  Some  of 
the  party  accepted  the  finger-bowls  and  laved  their  hands. 
"  My  master  knows  enough  of  foreign  manners,"  said  A- 
hoy,  "to  get  the  bowls  of  water,  but  I  shall  have  to  remind 
him  the  next  time  of  the  napkins."  The  not  witless  remark, 
in  the  absence  of  the  napkins,  secured  another  approbative 
smile  to  A-hoy,  for  the  penetration  he  showed  on  the  occa- 
sion for  which,  in  this  one  particular,  by  an  oversight,  he 
had  not  provided. 

We  returned  unscathed  by  pebbles  or  in  any  other  way 
molested,  although  we  were  the  first  of  the  "  foreign  devils" 
who  have  presumed  to  venture  abroad  on  the  side  of  the 
river  opposite  Canton,  since  the  prohibitory  measures  which 
confined  the  Fanqui  to  their  factories. 

There  is  legend  connected  with  the  origin  of  the  city 
of  Canton,  and  all  as  veritable  as  the  fictions  associated 
with  the  foundation  of  the  seven-hill  city,  once  the  empress 


162  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  the  western  world,  which  boasts  the  twins  Romulus  and 
Remus  for  its  founders.  But  it  would  be  of  little  interest 
to  follow  the  story-tellers  from  the  period  when  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  "  southern  regions"  first  commenced  to  bear 
their  tribute  of  "  crabs  and  frogs  and  snakes  and  crickets" 
to  the  "  son  of  heaven,  who  received  homage  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth,"  up  to  the  different  epochs  when,  in 
one  dynasty,  the  young  Canton  bore  the  name  of "  the 
martial  city  of  the  south  ;"  or  in  another,  "  the  city  of 
rams,"  after  five  genii,  robed  in  as  many  different  colored 
vestments,  who  are  said  to  have  entered  the  city  on  as  many 
different  colored  rams,  which  were  enabled,  notwithstand- 
ing each  bore  in  his  mouth  a  stalk  of  grain  having  five 
ears,  to  exclaim  audibly  to  the  people, 

"  May  famine  and  dearth  never  visit  your  markets ;" 

thus  giving  the  additional  titles  of  "  the  city  of  genii"  and 
"  the  city  of  grain"  to  the  famous  capital  of  the  southern 
province.  It  will  rather  suffice  to  note  that  the  rebellious 
people  of  the  south  yielded  to  the  prowess  of  the  northern 
arms  ;  and  after  many  alternations  of  discontent  and  sub- 
mission, finally  gave  their  adherence  to  the  founder  of  the 
Han  dynasty,  some  two  centuries  earlier  than  our  own 
era.  In  the  sixth  century  the  provincial  city  had  become 
a  regular  mart  for  foreign  commerce,  carrying  on  a  con- 
siderable trade  with  Cochin-China  and  India ;  and  for  its 
protection  against  the  assaults  of  the  first,  the  city  wall 
was  raised  about  the  year  1060.  Internal  contentions 
drenched  the  south  in  blood  on  the  accession  of  the  pew 
dynasty  in  1279;  but  commerce  revived  on  the  restora- 
tion of  quiet,  and  in  1300  "abundance  of  vessels,"  as  wri- 
ters narrate,  "  came  to  Canton." 

The  pioneer  of  European  commerce  to  China  was  De 
Androde,  who  reached  Canton  in  1517.  Other  adventurers, 
from  the  different  European  states,  soon  succeeded  ;  and 
the  trade,  through  the  alternations  of  reverses  and  pros- 
perity as  the  result  of  the  internal  broils  on  the  fall  of  one 
and  the  rise  of  a  new  dynasty — which  make  the  empire  of 
China  less  a  thing  of  quiet  than  some  of  the  admirers  of  its 
political  economy  suppose — has  risen  progressively,  until 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  103 

in  1837  its  exports  have  reached  the  annual  amount  of 
nearly  forty  millions  of  dollars.* 

WALL    ABOUT    CANTON. 

The  city  wall  is  about  six  miles  in  length,  and  may  be 
traversed  by  a  walk  of  little  less  than  two  hours  at  rather 
a  quick  pace.  It  varies  in  its  height  according  to  the  un- 
evenness  of  the  surface  at  its  base,  from  twenty-five  to 
forty  feet,  and  in  width  fifteen  feet  at  its  top,  widening  to 
twenty-five  at  its  base.  Its  composition  is  stone  and  brick 
filled  in  with  earth  on  the  interior.  There  are  sixteen 
gates — four  passing  through  an  inner  wall  and  twelve 
form  ing  entrances  through  the  external  bulwark,  which  runs 
parallel,  on  the  south,  with  the  river,  and  winds  circularly 
back  into  the  interior,  resting  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  in  the 
northern  part  of  its  circuit  some  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  river,  which  from  this  point  it  com- 
mands, with  a  perfect  view  of  the  plain  on  which  the  city 
is  spread  beneath  it.  "  The  gate  of  the  five  genii,"  "  the 
gate  of  eternal  rest,"  "  the  gate  of  eternal  purity,"  will 
serve  as  a  sufficient  specimen  of  the  names  of  these  outlets 
of  a  city  of  "  the  flowery  nation,"  of  a  "  flowery  language ;" 
and  the  "  dragon  street,"  "  the  flying  dragon  street,"  "  the 
martial  dragon  street,"  "  the  flowery  street,"  "  the  golden 
street,"  and  "  the  golden  flowery  street,"  will  more  than 
suffice  for  a  specimen  of  the  1,000  and  more  or  less  ave- 
nues of  this  inwalled  emporium  of  commerce,  containing  a 
population  with  its  suburbs  of  1,236,000,  as  estimated  on 
the  most  credible  data ;  and  which,  no  one  who  has 
walked  through  the  crowded  streets  of  Canton,  gazed  into 
their  one  dense  mass  of  shops,  and  viewed  the  fleet  of 
84,000  boats  that  float  upon  the  stream  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, each  with  its  family  of  man,  wife,  children,  ducks, 
geese,  chickens,  cooking  utensils,  chop-sticks  and  all,  would 
think  of  estimating  that  number  less  than  1,000,000  of 
people.  Surely  it  must  be  a  blessing  to  the  Chinese,  as  a 
body,  that  they  need  no  more  household  furniture  than  a 

*  In  1836-37,  English  Imports  $34,900,662.    Exports,  30,168,380. 
In  1836-37,  American  Imports  $3,678,696.    Exports,  8,202,869. 

41 


164          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

stool  to  sit  upon,  and  a  bowl  and  chop-sticks  for  their  table 
furniture,  and  a  kettle  for  their  cooking  apparatus.  Other- 
wise, broad  as  is  their  empire,  360,000,000  of  people  would 
cry  out  that  the  space  is  too  narrow  for  us.  As  it  is,  a 
family  of  a  dozen  Chinese  of  both  sexes  can  make  out 
with  a  house  of  three  rooms — one  for  their  eating  hall ; 
and  the  floating  gentry  of  the  boats,  I  suppose,  content 
themselves  with  but  two  equal  divisions,  in  their  water 
palaces. 

It  would  be  occupying  more  space  than  I  have  designed 
to  appropriate  to  these  volumes,  were  I  to  give  the  partic- 
ulars which  I  have  written  in  my  manuscript,  connected 
with  the  government  of  the  city  of  Canton — its  officers 
and  police — and  what  to  myself  is  of  deeper  interest,  a 
general  notice  of  the  system  of  literary  examinations  which 
prevails  throughout  the  Chinese  empire.  It  is  a  system 
commendable  in  its  arrangement ;  but  when  considered  in 
connection  with  the  books  perused  by  the  candidates  for 
distinction  in  literary  fame,  affluence,  and  elevation  in  of- 
fice, it  presents  a  miserable  course  of  education — philoso- 
phy, science,  and  geography  alike  being  absent  from  it — 
and  the  highest  perfection  aimed  at  is  but  a  successful 
imitation  of  an  affected  style  in  composition,  and  a  logic 
which  starts  with  false  premises. 

But  oui  ships  have  yet  a  long  traverse  to  make  in  their 
circuit  of  the  globe,  and  I  may  not  delay  too  long  in  the 
provincial  city  of  the  south,  or  among  the  endless  subjects 
of  interest  associated  with  this  peculiar  people  of  the 
celestial  empire. 

CHINESE    POETRY. 

POETRY  is  the  language  of  nature,  and  nature  exhibit- 
ing herself  in  different  circumstances.  The  American 
Indian  delights  in  the  chase  and  the  war-whoop  ;  and  the 
burden  of  his  song  is  of  war,  as  he  dances  around  the  war- 
pole  and  shakes  the  scalps  of  his  enemies,  after  his  return 
from  the  distant  trail  of  his  foe,  whom  he  has  left  in  his 
blood.  The  revel  grows  louder,  and  the  dance  more 
fierce,  as  the  red  chieftain  narrates  his  deeds  of  triumph, 
or  the  young  warriors  who  have  taken  their  first  scalp 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  165 

come  forward  to  receive  their  war-name  from  the  older 
chiefs. 

The  Goth  and  the  Vandal  were  not  unlike  the  abori- 
gines of  the  American  forest,  in  developing  their  feelings 
in  rude  song  and  music  of  the  wild  and  heroic  kind. 

The  refined  nations  of  modern  Europe,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent Grecian  and  Roman  among  the  ancients,  may  all  be 
traced  in  their  advance  in  civilization  and  the  cultivation 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  and  refinement  of  manners,  in  their 
poetry.  And  while  the  ancients  in  their  master- perform- 
ances, sang  of  the  deeds  of  heroic  action,  they  left  to  mod- 
ern times  the  developments  of  all  the  combinations  of  the 
human  heart,  in  its  display  of  deep  emotion  and  natural 
action  in  connection  with  restless  ambiiion,  profound  and 
jealous  love,  and  deeds  correspondent  to  the  universal  pas- 
sions of  men. 

We  therefore  should  expect  to  find  the  poetry  of  the 
Chinese,  as  we  really  do,  characteristic  of  themselves. 
They  are  essentially  an  agricultural  people  ;  and  their 
whole  system  tends  to  quiescence,  alike  in  their  philosophy, 
religion,  and  politics.  Their  philosophy  inculcates  the  in- 
fluencing of  men  by  persuasion  in  argument,  rather  than 
by  force — their  religion  embraces  the  sentiment,  that  the 
destinies  of  men  are  woven  indivisibly  and  irresistibly  by 
the  fates — and  their  principles  of  political  economy  require 
unquestioned  and  unquestioning  submission  to  the  power 
that  rules.  Patriotism  with  them  is  the  inculcation  of  obe- 
dience, by  practice  and  precept,  to  the  precedents  of  the 
past — religion  is  the  veneration  of  a  remembered  ancestry, 
and  the  preservation  of  their  tombs,  and  the  burning  of 
gold  paper  and  garments  to  the  manes  of  the  departed — 
and  fame  of  every  kind,  that  is  honorable  in  the  estimation 
of  the  Chinese,  personal,  political,  present,  and  posthumous, 
all  depends  not  on  originality  of  genius  and  acquisition  of 
true  knowledge  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  an  indepen- 
dent literature,  but  on  a  successful  imitation  of  a  false, 
limited,  past,  but  not  obsolete  standard  of  philosophy  and 
ethics,  embraced  in  the  collection  of  the  "  Four  Books" 
and  the  "  Five  Classics"  of  Confucius.  To  imitate  these 
in  style — to  quote  these  in  illustration — to  be  guided  by 
these  in  action,  and  instructed  by  these  in  principle — and 


166  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

successfully  to  produce  these  in  argument,  secures  appro- 
bation, admiration,  and  reward,  and  is  the  only  path  to 
preferment  and  distinction.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  mind  of 
the  Chinese  is  only  imitative,  and  incapable  of  invention. 
We  look  not  then  for  excellence  in  poetry  connected  with 
any  thing  like  originality,  where  the  standard  itself  is  a 
book  of  indifferent  odes  of  the  preceding  ages,  collected 
by  Confucius  five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
and  adhered  to  as  the  model  of  perfection  and  for  imita- 
tion ;  and  we  justly  conclude  that  the  Chinese,  for  sixteen 
centuries,  have  made  little  advance  in  the  poetic  art, 
otherwise  than  in  the  smoothness  of  the  rhythm,  in  the  in- 
creasing refinement  of  the  nation.  They  have  no  epic 
poem,  and  their  tragedies  are  melo-dramas,  which  seldom 
reach  the  deep-natural  of  intense  passion;  and  as  per- 
formed on  their  bamboo  stages,  exhibit,  at  least  to  the 
European  eye,  more  of  the  burlesque  and  the  masquerade, 
than  the  natural  scenes  of  dramatic  life.  I  am  aware  that 
some  better  qualified  than  myself  to  judge  (their  partiali- 
ties aside)  as  to  this  branch  of  Chinese  poetry,  would  dis- 
sent from  my  opinion  ;  and  only  on  one  occasion,  without 
being  fully  aware  of  the  scene  I  was  about  to  witness,  1 
had  the  opportunity  of  being  present  at  the  Chinese  "  Sing- 
Song."  The  action  of  the  players  then  seemed  well  to 
comport  with  the  wooden  swords  they  used  to  do  their 
fatal  deeds ;  and  of  the  thousand  spectators,  jammed  en 
masse  to  witness  the  performance,  probably  three-fourths 
were  incapable  of  appreciating  a  happy  sentiment,  and 
manifested  more  pleasure  at  the  regalia  of  the  dresses  and 
the  firing  of  the  abundance  of  crackers  than  at  the  dra- 
matic progress  of  the  play. 

But  the  Chinese  are  fond  of  flowers — are  a  rural  peo- 
ple— cultivators  of  the  ground — the  emperor  himself  an- 
nually, for  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  holding  the 
plough,  that  he  may  give  the  influence  of  his  imperial 
example  to  the  empire — all  which,  connected  with  the 
system  of  literary  examinations  already  alluded  to,  so  cal- 
culated to  encourage  a  taste  for  literature,  such  as  it  is, 
would  lead  us  to  expect  that  their  best  specimens  of  poetry 
would  be  found  in  the  descriptive,  associated  with  calm 
nature,  as  found  in  the  painting  of  rural  scenes,  conveyed 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  167 

in  sententious  thought.  And  such  is  the  case.  They 
paint  the  garden — the  water-pond — the  lily — the  sacred 
lotus,  which  fills  their  private  grounds — the  ever  occur- 
ring peach-blossom  and  the  plum,  and  their  most  plentiful 
flower,  the  epidendrum ;  while  they  applaud  that  rest  of 
which  their  own  Confucius  speaks  with  admiring  par- 
tiality, and  which  the  Chinese  looks  to  for  his  old  age ; 
and  which  certainly  is  grateful  alike  to  every  refined 
mind,  as  the  Latins  have  it,  otiwn  cum  dignitate. 

The  measure  of  the  Chinese  poetry  consists  of  different 
feet,  according  to  the  number  of  characters  which  consti- 
tute the  line,  varying  from  three  to  seven  characters. 
Each  specimen  is  to  be  found  in  the  Shee  King,  the  book 
of  odes  collected  by  Confucius,  constituting  one  of  the 
classics,  and  which,  I  am  informed,  is  being  translated  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Shuck  into  English,  and,  as  soon  as  com- 
pleted, will  be  published  in  America.  Although  rhyme 
occasionally  prevails,  it  is  not  frequent ;  and  owing  to  the 
peculiar  construction  of  the  Chinese  language,  the  sounds 
are  less  perfect  than  words  allow,  which  are  formed  of 
alphabetical  letters.  The  Chinese  poetry,  however,  de- 
pends principally  for  its  contradistinction  from  prose,  on 
its  regularly  recurring  rhythm,  parallelism,  and  antithesis, 
rendering  it  strikingly  analogous  in  its  construction  to  the 
poetry  of  the  Hebrews. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Shuck,  my  missionary  friend  at 
Macao,  for  several  specimens  of  Chinese  poetry.  The  neat 
manuscripts  in  Chinese  characters  are  beautiful  specimens 
of  the  written  character.  I  copy  the  translation  of  a 
single  piece — the  original  containing  five  Chinese  charac- 
ters in  each  line,  and  the  piece  itself  composed  of  a  stanza 
of  eight  lines. 

ON    TAKING    LEAVE    OF    A    FRIEND. 

"  Ten  years  have  elapsed  since  last  we  parted ; 
And  no  sooner  have  we  met,  than  we  part  again. 
We  bind  ourselves  by  promises  to  renew  this  meeting, 
But  we  shall  never  be  so  young  as  we  are  now. 
The  shadows  of  the  passing  cloud  speedily  vanish, 
The  falling  leaf  returns  not  to  its  branch ; 
Should  I  fly  like  the  wild  bird  to  seek  you  in  the  south, 
In  what  part  of  yon  blue  mountain  shall  we  meet  1" 
41* 


168  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


THE    CHINESE    LANGUAGE. 

The  Chinese  language  has  been  deemed  a  phenomenon 
in  philology  ;  and  its  formation,  in  its  advance  from  its  in- 
fancy to  its  present  magnificence  and  comparative  merit, 
as  an  oral  and  written  medium  of  communication  for  three 
hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  people,  seems  to  be  regarded 
as  a  matter  of  astonishment.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  as 
a  slight  familiarity  with  its  first  principles  will  enable  one 
to  judge,  I  should  deem  its  construction  to  have  been  pre- 
cisely as  we  would  expect  to  be  the  origin  of  a  written 
language  among  a  primitive  people.  The  illiterate  pea- 
sant or  huckster,  unable  to  write,  could  yet  draw  hiero- 
glyphics of  straight  and  curved  lines.  And  by  way  of 
refreshing  his  recollection,  had  he  an  occasion  to  debit  his 
neighbor  a  cheese,  he  would  naturally  score  upon  the  bark 
of  a  tree  or  upon  the  door  of  his  tent  a  circular  mark  ;  and 
if  it  chanced  to  be  a  grindstone  instead  of  a  cheese,  he 
would  not  forget  to  add  a  dot,  for  the  sake  of  definiteness 
and  distinction,  to  the  centre  of  the  circle,  all  which  first 
attempts  in  the  fine  arts  would  be  increased  as  necessity 
and  convenience  required,  and  improved  in  their  form  as 
the  tyro-sketcher  continued  his  practice.  A  combination 
of  these  symbols  becoming  definitely  associated  with  the 
objects  which  they  were  used  to  represent,  would  at 
length  become  the  medium  of  communication  between  dif- 
ferent individuals  ;  and,  reduced  to  a  written  form,  im- 
prove in  their  shape  as  convenience  for  their  rapid  forma- 
tion and  agreeableness  in  their  appearance  to  the  eye 
should  suggest  in  their  continued  use.  New  symbols  not 
being  readily  found  for  every  new  idea,  a  combination  of  the 
originally  formed  characters  would  naturally  be  suggested, 
and  eventually,  the  symbols  or  hieroglyphics  becoming  so 
numerous,  they  would  lose  their  visible  resemblance  to  the 
objects  they  were  originally  employed  to  represent,  and  at 
length  become  mere  arbitrary  representatives  of  ideas. 

Thus  it  precisely  is,  as  it  seems  to  me,  with  the  hiero- 
glyphic formation  of  the  Chinese  language.  Their  origi- 
nal form,  representing  the  idea  of  the  sun,  is  a  circle  with 
a  dot  in  its  centre ;  the  moon,  by  a  crescent  or  segment 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  169 

of  a  circle;  a  child,  by  something  resembling  the  first 
attempt  in  the  nursery  to  draw  a  man  ;  morning,  by  the 
sun's  rising  ;  above,  by  a  dot  over  a  straight  line  ;  below, 
by  a  dot  beneath  a  straight  line.  Advancing  to  the  com- 
bination of  symbols,  the  sun  and  moon  together  mean 
brightness  ;  two  trees  mean  a  forest  ;  two  men  seated 
upon  the  ground  represent  the  idea  of  sitting  ;  waved 
lines,  rivulets.  And  these  symbolic  representations  of 
ideas,  a  few  of  which  are  here  alluded  to,  would  be  in- 
creased ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  necessities 
of  a  growing  people  and  intercourse,  a  free  combination 
would  take  place,  and  the  original  characters  be  improved 
upon,  in  the  advance  of  refinement  and  taste,  and  yet  more 
particularly,  for  convenience  and  uniform  appearance,  as 
the  characters  were  used  in  writing  ;  and  with  the  dis- 
covery of  the  art  of  printing  the  characters  would  undergo 
still  a  further  modification  for  the  beauty  and  agreeable 
effect  of  the  type  or  plates.  This  is  seen  in  the  fac-simile 
below,  illustrating  the  preceding  remarks  —  the  upper  line 
exhibiting  the  original  form  of  the  Chinese  character,  the 
lower  one  giving  the  form  now  used  in  their  printing  ; 
and  seen  still  more  particularly  in  the  plate  further  on, 
exhibiting  the  improvement  of  the  original  form  by  the 
beauty  and  uniformity  of  the  character  now  in  use. 


o  J  ?  —  -- 


sun,        moon,        child,  above,         below,  bright,  forest. 


3- 


The  greatest  wonder  in  the  history  of  all  written  lan- 
guages is,  that  an  alphabet  of  twenty-five  letters,  repre- 
senting the  elementary  sounds  of  the  voice,  should  ever 
have  been  discovered,  and  remains  yet  a  question  if  it 
were  not  originally  a  gift  direct  from  heaven.  If  however 
it  be  a  discovery  of  man,  we  should  be  led  to  conclude  that 
it  would  be  a  result  of  after-times,  when  a  people  had 
become  more  philosophical  and  given  to  analysis  ;  and 
that  it  would  be  the  result  of  a  cumbersome  system  of 
hieroglyphics  and  arbitrary  characters,  precisely  like  that 


170          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

which  we  have  presented  to  us  in  the  pictorial  language 
of  the  Chinese,  giving  its  literati  to  feel  the  necessity  of 
something  by  which  the  symbolic  character  of  the  lan- 
guage might  be  simplified.  And  in  the  range  of  philoso- 
phical analysis,  there  can  be  found  no  other  example  so 
striking  as  the  alphabet  of  articulation  (save  the  ten  Arabic 
numerals)  to  illustrate  the  illimitable  combination  to  which 
a  few  simples,  having  their  origin  in  nature,  can  be  carried. 
And  the  superiority  of  the  alphabetic  system  to  the  sym- 
bolical character  of  the  Chinese,  renders  it  not  an  improb- 
able conjecture  that,  in  the  advance  of  philosophical  litera- 
ture in  the  East  and  the  certainly  to  be  expected  advance 
of  Christianity,  the  language  of  the  celestial  empire  will 
one  day,  and  not  at  a  great  time  distant,  be  expressed  in 
an  alphabetical  character  corresponding  to  the  written 
languages  of  the  West. 

But  as  it  is,  the  Chinese  character,  in  which  their  lan- 
guage is  embraced,  is  a  magnificent  structure  when  con- 
sidered in  its  immense  number  of  symbolic  representa- 
tions, which  have  now  become  arbitrary  signs  of  ideas 
rather  than  hieroglyphic  characters  ;  and  also,  in  view 
of  the  extent  of  space  over  which  the  language  has 
spread  and  the  number  of  people  by  whom  it  is  spoken. 
And  notwithstanding  it  has  been  formed  in  a  manner  we 
should  deem  the  most  natural,  by  a  people  advancing  from 
the  rude  state  to  that  of  high  civilization,  it  becomes  a  won- 
der in  its  solitary  loneliness,  in  contrast  with  all  other  writ- 
ten languages  of  the  world,  for  its  existence  as  a  language 
without  an  alphabet.  The  possibility  of  this  at  first  seems 
to  the  Western,  from  his  usual  mode  of  thinking,  to  be  in- 
credible, until  he  shall  have  become  familiar  with  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  Chinese  characters  have  been  formed. 
As  it  is,  there  are  some  peculiarities  which  are  curious  and 
interesting. 

One  particular  character  of  the  Chinese  language,  ex- 
hibiting it  strikingly  in  contradistinction  with  the  Western 
languages,  is,  that  all  its  words  are  of  one  syllable.  It  is 
true  that  there  is  often  a  coalescing  of  two  or  more  vow- 
el sounds,  which  give  to  the  character,  when  reduced  to 
English  orthography,  the  appearance  of  a  dissylable  or 
polysyllable,  and  have  it  in  the  original  enunciation.  But 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


171 


if  this  be  recognised  in  the  vowel  sounds,  then  I  do  not 
see  why  characters  with  certain  elementary  consonant 
sounds,  as  ts,  should  not  also  be  regarded  as  dissyllabic, 
for  there  is  here  as  distinctly  an  exhibition  of  two  elemen- 
tary articulations  of  the  voice  as  in  the  case  first  supposed, 
if  not  more  so — for  tseen  (t-seen)  requires  as  distinctly  the 
enunciation  of  two  elementary  articulations  of  the  voice 
as  tien.  The  effect  of  this  monosyllabic  form,  were  it  not 
for  the  different  intonations  given  to  the  characters,  would 
be  most  monotonous,  but  with  this  variation  of  sound  the 
repetition  of  a  lesson  by  the  child  at  his  daily  task  becomes 
a  song,  containing  more  of  the  elements  of  true  harmony 
than  I  have  been  able  to  discover  in  the  combinations  of 
any  number  of  Chinese  musical  instruments.  The  mono- 
syllabic character  of  the  language  may  be  seen  by  the  fol- 
lowing lines  taken  from  the  Trimetrical,  and  the  Thousand- 
character  Classic,  the  first  and  third  books  put  into  the 
hands  of  pupils  in  the  elementary  schools.  Both  of  these 
books  are  in  measure — the  first  being  constituted  with  lines 
of  three  characters  each,  the  other  with  four  characters 
in  each  line.  The  Chinese  read  from  the  right  to  the  left, 
and  from  the  top  of  the  column  downwards.  The  first 
quotation  contains  five  double  lines  from  the  Trimeter,  the 
second,  eight  lines  of  the  Thousand-character  Classic : 


Fifth. 

Fourth. 

Third. 

Second. 

First. 

Seih 

Keaou 

Kow 

Sing 

Jin 

Mang 

Che 

Puh 

Seang 

Che 

Moo 

Taou 

Keaou 

Kin 

Tsoo 

Tsih 

Kwei 

Sing 

Seih 

Sing 

Lin 

E 

Nae 

Seang 

Fung 

Choo 

Chuen 

Tseen 

Yuen 

Shen 

Eighth. 

Seventh. 

Sixth. 

Fifth. 

Fourth.        Third.         Second. 

First. 

Leuh 

Jah 

Tsew 

Han 

Shin 

Jeih 

Yu 

Teen 

Leu 

Yu 

Show 

Lae 

Suh 

Yue 

Chou 

Te 

Teaou 

Ching 

Tung 

Shoo 

Lee 

Ying 

Hung 

Heuen 

Yang 

Suy 

Tsang 

Wang 

Chang 

Tsih 

Hwang 

Hwang 

172  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Another  peculiarity  of  this  singular  language  is,  that  all 
its  consonant  terminations  are  in  n  and  ng,  yet  without  giv- 
ing it  a  disagreeable  nasal  enunciation. 

But  the  most  important  consideration  in  connection  with 
the  Chinese  language  is  the  extent  to  which  it  is  used  as  a 
medium  of  written  communication.  The  extent  of  the 
empire,  and  the  early  non-intercourse  of  the  separate  but 
subjugated  states  now  constituting  the  Chinese  domain, 
has  originated  many  idioms,  and  such  a  departure  has 
there  been  from  the  court  standard  of  pronunciation,  that 
the  colloquial  use  of  the  language  in  some  of  the  provinces 
is  utterly  unintelligible  to  another  province.  And  yet  the 
characters  used  by  all  are  the  same.  Another  cause  of 
this  departure  from  a  common  standard  of  pronunciation 
results  from  the  circumstance  that  the  sound  oi'  each  charac- 
ter in  the  Chinese  language  must  be  learned  by  being  heard 
from  an  oral  teacher,  as  the  Chinese  have  no  system  in  the 
absence  of  an  alphabet,  to  designate  the  sounds  of  their 
characters.  Still  the  written  characters  remain  the  same 
in  all  the  provinces,  and  are  universally  understood  over 
the  empire,  including  360,000,000;  and  adding  to  this  num- 
ber the  inhabitants  of  islands  peopled  by  Chinese,  and  oth- 
ers who  have  the  Chinese  character  as  their  written  lan- 
guage, we  may  estimate  the  number  by  whom  this  char- 
acter is  used  at  400,000,000  of  people.  The  illustration, 
showing  how  the  written  character  of  the  Chinese  may  be 
understood  by  this  vast  mass  of  people,  while  they  yet,  in 
many  parts,  are  unable  to  make  themselves  understood  in 
conversation,  is  simple.  The  idea  expressed  by  the  Eng- 
lish word  man,  in  French  is  homme ;  Spanish,  uomo ;  Lat- 
in, homo ;  Greek,  av^w^o^  (anthropos)  ;  Hebrew,  tix  (ish); 
Chinese,  X  O'1'71)*  ThisChinese  character  (jin)  not  being 
formed  upon  the  principle  of  sound,  but  as  hieroglyphic, 
addressed  to  the  eye,  might  with  equal  propriety  be  pro- 
nounced homme,  uomo,  homo,  anthropos,  or  ish,  as  well  as 
jin,  the  present  sound  by  which  the  Chinese  distinguish 
it.  And  if  this  same  Chinese  character  entered  into  the 
language  of  all  these  different  nations,  instead  of  their  own 
present  words,  and  was  called  differently  by  the  sounds 
which  each  now  use,  for  man,  then  the  Greek  would  not 
understand  the  Roman  when  he  spoke  the  sound  homo,  nor 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  173 

the  Roman  the  Greek  were  he  to  use  the  sound  anthropos  ; 
nor  the  Spaniard  the  French  sound  of  homme.  But  all 
having  the  character  alike,  though  called  by  names  of 
different  sounds,  they  would  immediately  understand  each 
other,  should  either  of  them  take  a  pen  and  draw  the  char- 
acter X  O'wi). 

A  better  illustration  is  derived  from  the  Arabic  numer- 
als used  in  common  by  the  different  nations  of  Europe 
and  America.  Were  the  American  to  use  the  word  thir- 
ty to  the  Spaniard,  who  calls  the  same  numeral  trenta,  he 
would  not  comprehend  the  American ;  nor  would  the 
Frenchman,  who  calls  the  same  numeral  trente.  But  ei- 
ther of  these  persons,  taking  a  pen  and  writing  the  num- 
ber in  the  Arabic  numeral  30,  and  all  immediately  com- 
prehend it,  although  each  called  it  by  a  different  sound. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  Chinese.  Though  the  idioms  in  the 
various  provinces  throughout  the  vast  empire  differ  as  to 
the  pronunciation  of  their  character,  the  character  itself 
remains  fixed  as  to  its  form  and  meaning,  and,  addressed 
to  the  eye  as  a  written  communication,  it  is  intelligible  to 
all.  The  court  pronunciation  has  been  called  the  manda- 
rin dialect.  And  as  the  candidates  for  promotion  to  offices 
from  all  parts  of  the  empire  have  to  pass  their  literary  ex- 
aminations in  the  mandarin  or  court  idiom,  the  mandarin 
dialect  is  spoken  by  the  literati  universally,  and  most  ex- 
tensively, while  this  course  of  examination,  in  connection 
with  their  unchanging  classics,  keeps  the  language  itself 
unchangable. 

Here  then  we  see  the  field  that  opens,  through  the  Chi- 
nese language,  for  influencing  four  hundred  millions  of 
people,  or  nearly  one  half  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  globe. 
The  whole  system  of  the  nation's  literary  course  is  such 
as  would  secure  to  a  work,  written  to  their  taste  and  once 
admitted  to  their  empire,  the  most  rapid  and  universal  pe- 
rusal. And  a  Christian  classic,  once  introduced  into  their 
triennial  course  of  examinations,  would  imbue  the  nation 
at  once  with  its  principles.  It  is  a  high  point  from  which 
the  Christian  missionary  may  gaze,  amid  every  discourage- 
ment, in  anticipation  of  the  day  when  his  books,  or  cer- 
tainly those  who  come  after  him  who  shall  have  enjoyed 
the  assistance  derived  from  his  labors,  shall  find  the  way 


174  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

into  the  hands  of  the  reading  part  of  the  people  of  such 
an  extended  nation,  and,  may  be,  form  the  classic  which 
shall  become  the  means  of  giving  this  civilized  but  idola- 
trous and  comparatively  unintelligent  people,  a  better  lit- 
erature, science,  and,  above  all,  the  happy  institutions  and 
the  immortal  hopes  of  the  blessed  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  no  inflections  in  the  use  of  the  Chinese  charac- 
ter in  composition,  the  nouns,  verbs,  and  particles  remain- 
ing invariably  the  same ;  and  the  various  sense  of  these 
symbolical  characters  must  be  fixed  by  the  position  they 
occupy  in  the  forming  of  the  sentence.  Syntax,  therefore, 
is  unknown,  according  to  its  application  to  alphabetic  lan- 
guages where  there  are  changes  in  the  termination  of 
nouns  and  conjugation  of  verbs  and  the  variation  of  adjec- 
tives for  the  expression  of  their  different  degrees  of  com- 
parison and  agreement.  Grammar,  connected  with  the 
Chinese  language,  therefore,  can  only  be  a  treatise  of  rhet- 
oric, exhibiting  the  best  usages  of  classical  writers,  and 
other  elucidations,  for  the  formation  of  the  best  style  in  the 
use  and  arrangement  of  unchangeable  and  unchanging  but 
definite  and  significant  characters. 

There  are  six  different  styles  of  character,  more  or  less 
varying  from  each  other,  now  in  use  among  the  Chinese, 
which  are  exhibited  in  the  opposite  plate. 

The  first  is  the  most  ancient  style  after  the  original 
hieroglvphics,  and  by  Europeans  is  called  the  seal  charac- 
ter. 

The  second  is  the  style  of  official  attendants,  as  formerly 
used  by  writers  in  the  public  offices,  and  thence  derives 
its  name.  It  is  now  used  in  inscriptions  and  prefaces  of 
books. 

The  third  exhibits  the  pattern  style,  and  is  formed  by 
gradual  improvements  upon  the  others.  No  Chinese  can 
claim  any  consideration  as  a  man  of  literature  who  cannot 
correctly  and  neatly  write  in  this  character. 

The  fourth  style  is  a  running  hand,  to  some  extent,  as 
the  pencil  may,  without  being  raised,  pass  from  stroke  to 
stroke  in  the  formation  of  the  character,  while  no  abbre- 
viation is  allowable  in  writing  it. 

The  fifth  is  a  still  freer  running  hand,  full  of  abbrevia- 
tions, as  will  be  seen  by  the  comparison. 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  175 

Sixth.        Fifth.        Fourth.        Third.        Second.        First. 


42 


176          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

The  sixth  is  a  beautifully  formed  character  for  its  sym- 
metry and  uniformity,  deriving  its  name,  Shung  Te,  from 
the  dynasty  during  whose  time  it  was  introduced, as  a  more 
elegant  form  of  character  for  printing.  This  art,  by  means 
of  wooden  plates,  was  introduced  into  China  near  the  com- 
mencement of  the  tenth  century,  and  during  the  succeeding 
forty  years  the  Shung  dynasty  possessed  the  government, 
under  whose  auspices  this  character  received  its  modifica- 
tions and  improvements,  and  has  remained  and  still  contin- 
ues to  be  the  picturesque  and  beautiful  character  in  which 
the  Chinese  books  are  printed. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  give  in  this  connection  various 
quotations  from  the  prose  works  of  the  Chinese,  which 
would  serve  to  illustrate  their  style,  manners,  domestic 
economy,  philosophy,  and  religion — their  impressions  con- 
nected with  the  power  of  charms,  lucky  days,  festivals — 
aphorisms — a  few  hobgoblin  stories  and  freaks  of  fairies 
who  hold  their  court  in  the  constellation  of  Ursa  Major, 
and  greatly  concern  themselves  in  the  government  of  the 
Chinese  people,  making  Mr.  Bulwer's  fairy  action  in  guard- 
ing the  beautiful  consumptive  in  the  "  Legends  of  the  Rhine" 
more  natural,  had  the  scenes  been  laid  in  China,  than  I 
thought  them  when  reading  his  book  ;  and  though  I  now 
forget  whether  he  places  their  court  in  the  same  star- 
palaces  of  the  north but,  to  indulge  on  all  these  topics, 

if  it  should  not  tire,  it  would  too  much  extend  this  notice 
of  the  celestial  empire  in  connection  with  our  pause  in  the 
China  seas. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  in  the  literature  of  China, 
with  all  its  crudities,  there  is  much  of  interest — their  books 
abounding  in  sentences  of  formal  etiquette  and  graceful 
expressions,  though  deficient  in  tender  sentiments.  The 
people  have  been  acting  according  to  a  prescribed  code 
of  rules  in  manners  for  centuries,  which  makes  them  the 
most  formal  nation  in  their  habits  of  intercourse  among 
themselves  and  with  others,  that  exists  on  the  fuce  of  the 
earth.  And  yet  there  is  a  measured  politeness,  and  an 
ease  too,  with  all  the  grave  etiquette  of  the  people,  that 
gives  an  agreeableness  to  their  manners  and  a  grace  to  their 
formality,  even  to  their  attitudes  in  walking,  bowing,  and 
their  stereotyped  salutations  ;  and  you  feel,  while  your 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          177 

heart  melts  in  kindness  towards  the  Chinese  gentleman  in 
your  association  with  him,  that  the  "  Board  of  Rites,"  at 
Peking,  however  much  they  may  have  retarded  the  Chi- 
nese nation  in  its  advance  in  the  scale  of  modern  improve- 
ment, have  yet  given  to  the  nation  a  system  of  manners 
towards  their  equals  worthy  of  a  refined  people. 


CHINESE    SALUTATIONS. 

Dr.  Morrison  has  remarked,  on  the  ceremonial  forms  of 
China,  that  the  "joining  of  hands  and  raising  them  before 
the  breast,"  is  the  lowest  order  of  salutation  known  among 
the  Chinese.  The  next  more  deferential  mark  of  consider- 
ation is  a  low  bow,  with  the  hands  joined  as  before.  The 
third,  still  more  deferential,  is  bending  the  knee,  as  if  about 
to  kneel.  The  fourth,  kneeling.  The  fifth,  to  kneel  and 
strike  the  head  against  the  ground.  The  sixth,  to  strike 
the  head  three  times  against  the  ground  previous  to  rising 
from  a  kneeling  position.  The  seventh,  kneeling  and  strik- 
ing the  forehead  three  times,  rising  and  again  kneeling  and 
striking  the  head  yet  further  three  times  before  rising. 
The  climax,  or  the  eighth  ceremonial,  the  Chinese  call  the 
kow-tow,  and  is  required  of  all  who  enter  the  presence  of 
the  Emperor,  and  invariably  practised  by  the  courtiers 
around  the  person  of  his  celestial  majesty.  It  is  kneeling 
three  successive  times,  and  at  each  time  knocking  the 
head  against  the  ground.  Some  of  the  gods  of  China  are 
entitled  only  to  the  sixth  and  seventh  degree  of  veneration, 
while  Heaven  (Teen)  and  the  Emperor  receive  the  three 
prostrations  and  the  three  times  three  knockings  of  the 
head,  from  him  who  would  approach  these  deemed  to  be 
equally  sacred  powers,  in  worship  and  for  favor. 

WALK  AROUND  THE  WALL  OF  CANTON. 

On  the  morning  of  one  of  the  last  three  days  I  spent  in 
Canton,  it  was  proposed  to  me  to  take  a  walk  around  the 
city  walls.  This  had  been  done,  and  it  was  deemed  prac- 
ticable now,  though  my  kind  friend  Dr.  Parker  thought 
that  the  adventurers  who  should  attempt  it  would  render 


178  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

themselves  liable  to  be  pelted  with  mud  and  pebbles, 
if  nothing  more  serious  should  happen,  before  they  re- 
turned. 

The  principal  inducement  to  myself  was  the  probability 
that  the  city  might  be  entered  through  a  breach  in  the 
wall  on  the  northwest  extreme  of  the  city,  should  the  point 
be  reached  at  the  break  of  day.  For  my  own  personal 
safety  I  had  but  little  apprehension,  having  already  tra- 
versed most  of  the  town  without  the  walls  unmolested, 
save  the  inconvenience  of  the  crowds  that  gathered  around 
the  Fanqui.  It  was  also  my  desire  to  gain  a  view  of  the 
country  beyond  the  city.  My  young  friend  K.  offered  to 
be  my  pilot,  and  we  were  to  start  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  expecting  to  reach  the  breach  before  the  celes- 
tials were  moving.  We  were  on  our  way  at  the  moment 
appointed,  and  found  ourselves  threading  the  narrow  streets 
at  a  quick  pace,  and  with  light  enough  just  to  discover  to 
us  the  way  our  course  lay  ;  and  now  and  then  dark  ob- 
jects confronted  us,  which  had  begun  to  move  earlier  than 
we  anticipated,  and  to  increase  in  numbers  as  we  passed 
from  street  to  street.  Occasionally  a  door  of  a  shop  open- 
ed, and  the  occupant  placed  a  lighted  josh-stick  in  the  urn 
of  the  family  god,  at  one  side  of  the  threshold  of  the  door; 
and  now  we  glided  by  a  sleeping  sentry  who  had  antici- 
pated the  hour  of  daybreak,  and  stretched  himself  on  some 
vacant  stool  to  gain  his  morning  nap.  The  faces  of  those 
who  were  passing  us  became  more  and  more  distinct,  and 
began  to  awaken  our  fears  that  we  should  be  too  late  to 
pass  the  gate  in  a  wing  of  the  wall  extending  from  the 
main  bulwark  towards  tfie  river  at  the  west  corner  of  the 
city,  and  formed  the  pass  to  the  country.  We  had  already 
passed  the  southern  gate,  through  which  criminals  are 
conveyed  from  the  inner  city  for  decapitation — a  point  we 
had  visited  the  preceding  evening,  and  saw  near  a  dozen 
skulls  occupying  the  manger-like  reservoir  attached  to  the 
wall,  for  holding  the  heads  as  they  fall  from  the  body  at 
the  stroke  of  the  executioner.  Labels  of  the  names  and 
crimes  were  still  adhering  to  some  of  these  victims  of  a 
merciless  code  ;  and  we  trusted  that  our  own  heads  would 
not  be  perilled,  though  we  were  venturing  beyond  the 
limits  usual  for  foreigners  in  their  rambles  ;  and  in  these 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE    ORLD.          179 

times  of  excitement  could  rely,  if  ever,  but  little  on  the 
good  faith  or  forbearance  of  a  Chinese  mob. 

As  we  had  measured  a  good  long  distance  through  the 
narrow  streets,  and  daylight  had  already  broken  upon  us, 
we  concluded  that  we  had  arrived  at  the  gate  leading 
through  the  wing  of  the  wall,  and  quickening  our  step, 
advanced  to  sally  through ;  when  the  sentry  from  within 
the  guard-house  raised  a  cry  loud  enough  for  the  alarm, 
if  a  hundred  cities  had  been  on  fire,  and  the  halloo  was 
repeated  by  numbers  of  the  people  already  passing  and 
repassing  this  opening  through  the  wall.  I  had  advanced 
and  turned  to  hurry  on  my  companion,  without  regarding 
the  twenty  arms  of  the  celestials  that  were  beckoning  me 
to  return,  but  we  soon  concluded  that  we  had  turned  too 
suddenly  to  the  left,  and  were  bolting  directly  through, 
into  the  city.  To  the  gratification  of  the  sentry,  who  by 
this  time  had  come  out  of  his  establishment  and  neared 
us  with  positive  imperatives,  we  retraced  our  steps  and 
continued  our  course  still  south  and  east,  and  in  a  few 
moments  more  passed  the  gate  of  the  wing  of  the  wall 
which  we  supposed  we  were  doing  in  our  previous  at- 
tempt. We  now  followed  a  narrow  lane  lined  on  either 
side  by  inferior  houses  directly  under  the  main  bulwarks 
of  the  wall,  and  the  crowds  of  the  lower  classes  gazing 
from  their  doors  as  we  passed  them  with  a  rapid  pace. 
We  soon  stood  in  the  country.  The  sun  was  just  rising. 
The  green  field — a  beautiful  stream,  purling  along  the  deep 
cut  of  the  ravine — and  the  ravine  itself,  were  all  objects  of 
acceptable  contrast  to  the  pent-up  space  through  which 
we  had  been  threading  our  way  by  twilight. 

The  wall  was  on  our  left,  rising  high  up  some  forty  or 
fifty  feet  here,  and  here  again,  on  a  more  elevated  point 
of  ground,  not  over  twenty — the  battlements  crowning 
its  top  and  ornamenting  the  heavy  work  by  their  regular 
openings.  The  lower  part  of  the  wall  is  built  principally 
of  stone,  the  upper  part  of  brick.  We  saw  more  than 
once  persons  walking  upon  the  wall  as  they  discovered 
themselves  to  us  through  the  openings  of  the  battlements. 
A  half  hour  more  of  rapid  walking  brought  us  to  the  high 
point  where  we  doubled  the  southeastern  corner  of  the 
wall,  with  high  grounds  at  our  right  in  the  distance  crown*- 

42* 


180          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  "WORLD. 

ed  with  lookout  stations,  and  between  them  and  the  wall 
runs  a  deep  ravine,  to  the  high  edge  of  which  the  wall  ex- 
tends. A  short  distance  brought  us  to  the  breach  on  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  wall.  We  had  left  every  object 
of  animated  life  out  of  sight  as  we  turned  the  southeastern 
corner  of  the  wall ;  and  learing  that  our  time  was  too  far 
extended  into  the  morning,  the  sun  being  already  up,  we 
apprehended,  as  we  ascended  the  ruins  of  the  wall  which 
here  occupied  the  highest  point  of  ground  within  the  city, 
that  we  might  at  once  be  brought  into  a  confronting  posi- 
tion with  some  of  the  frowning  gentlemen  of  the  long 
braids.  But  we  ascended  cautiously,  and  in  a  moment  or 
two  found  ourselves  standing  on  a  spacious  piece  of  table- 
ground  forming  the  brow  of  a  hill  that  overlooks  the  whole 
city.  A  single  tree  of  forest  dimensions  is  standing  here, 
and  beneath  it  we  reclined  and  contemplated  the  forbidden 
city  spread  immediately  beneath  and  before  us,  every  part 
of  its  wide  area  within  distinct  vision.  It  was  a  beautiful 
field  of  perspective,  surpassing  all  that  I  had  anticipated, 
supposing  it  to  be  crowded,  like  the  suburbs,  with  shops 
innumerable.  But  as  it  now  spread  before  us,  the  spacious 
courts  exposed  themselves  to  the  eye,  and  the  dwellings 
being  generally  low  but  empaling  spacious  grounds  for 
gardens,  exhibited  more  foliage  and  shrubbery  than  is 
usual  to  be  seen  in  an  extensive  city.  Our  eye  reconnoi- 
tering  here  and  there,  rapidly  took  in  this  view  and  that, 
the  elevation  of  another  part,  and  the  crowned  spurs  of  the 
hills  over  which  the  walls  on  the  northwest  run.  A  still 
calm  yet  rested  on  the  provincial  city  in  its  slumber  of  the 
morning,  as  the  sun  was  now  sending  over  it  his  earliest 
level  beam. 

But,  another  moment,  and  a  halloo  from  a  celestial, 
who  had  just  made  us  out,  came  forth  from  a  high  building 
as  his  wail  broke  upon  our  ear.  He  advanced  with  an  im- 
mense bamboo-pole,  elevating  it  over  his  head  in  a  threaten- 
ing attitude,  while,  with  a  gesture,  he  indicated  that  it  was 
his  pleasure  that  we  should  walk  over  the  wall  again,  and 
adown  the  steep  pile  of  ruins,  by  which  we  had  ascended. 

My  friend,  who  had  once  before  made  the  circuit  of 
the  wall  at  the  expense  of  some  little  inconvenience,  re- 
ceived from  the  erratic  flights  of  mud  and  pebbles  at  a 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  181 

point  a  little  further  on,  now  suggested  that  it  might  be 
better  for  us  to  depart  before  the  said  threatening  bamboo 
came  in  too  near  an  approximation  to  us.  He  therefore 
stood  with  one  foot  on  the  edge  of  the  aslant  of  the  ruins, 
ready  to  retreat  with  most  expeditious  despatch,  while  I 
begged  permission  (as  I  like  to  have  my  own  way  on  such 
occasions)  to  take  one  more  look  at  the  silent  city,  sleep- 
ing in  its  rest  and  shade  of  many  shrub  and  tree. 

I  should  have  felt  less  confident  in  my  position  had  I 
not  possessed  a  spell  in  my  pocket,  which  I  well  knew 
would  act  as  a  charm  upon  the  hero  of  the  bamboo,  so 
long  as  he  held  the  field  single-handed.  And  therefore, 
both  for  the  amusement  of  trying  his  spirit,  and  to  hold 
my  own  place  for  a  moment  longer — relying  fully  upon 
my  silver  magic  to  quell  any  rising  storm,  however  high 
the  anger  of  the  celestial  might  rage — I  waved  my  very 
substantially  proportioned  walking-stick  over  my  head,  as 
much  as  to  say  that  walking-stick  and  bamboo-pole  might 
forget  all  politeness,  should  they  come,  without  timely 
explanation,  into  juxtaposition.  The  Chinese  now  hesitated, 
dropped  his  pole  from  above  his  head  and  held  it  with 
his  distended  hand,  and  with  his  other  began,  by  drawing 
it  across  his  throat,  to  make  all  manner  of  indicatives 
that  our  heads  might  also  be  labelled  and  exposed  in  the 
execution  catch-all,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  south- 
eastern gate  of  the  city,  where  we  had  visited,  with 
more  disgust  than  trembling,  the  day  before.  Having 
satisfied  myself  that  the  hero  would  not  venture  nearer 
until  reinforced,  I  took  another  view,  and  at  length  ad- 
vanced towards  him  on  seeing  several  others  approaching 
up  the  steep  ;  and  now,  by  a  slight  and  confidential  touch 
of  the  hand,  assured  him  that  I  desired  that  we  might  be 
friends ;  and  he  having  received  a  certificate  of  this  de- 
sire, as  he  extended  his,  simply  begged  that  I  would  leave 
the  beautiful  height  as  soon  as  possible  with  convenience 
to  myself.  To  give  the  now  amiable  celestial  all  the  cre- 
dit of  having  driven  us  out  before  the  approaching  brother- 
hood, who  were  rapidly  gathering,  should  come  up,  I  bid 
the  hero  "  chin-chin?  and  disappeared  beneath  the  mound, 
up  which  we  had  ascended  to  the  most  prominent  point 
of  the  whole  enclosure  within  the  walls  of  the  city. 


182  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Our  path  lying  outside  the  wall,  we  were  aware  that 
the  party  which  had  gathered  as  we  left  the  wall  might, 
by  a  shorter  route,  anticipate  us,  and  cause  us  incon- 
venience as  we  reached  the  gate  of  the  wing  of  the  wall 
on  the  northwest,  corresponding  with  the  wing  on  the 
south,  and  where  opposition  had  been  experienced  by 
some  others,  on  a  previous  expedition  to  circle  the  wall 
of  Canton  city.  But,  while  we  quickened  our  pace  we 
met  with  no  obstacles  at  the  position  where  we  mostly 
apprehended  it.  By  a  sudden  bend  of  the  wall  we  were 
shielded  from  view  until  we  could  come  suddenly  up  to 
the  gate  and  pass  it.  We  did  so,  and  found  a  funeral 
procession  at  the  point,  moving  thus  early  out  of  the  city. 
We  were  suffered  to  pass  without  disturbance ;  and  en- 
tering the  narrow  streets  again  of  the  city,  called  the 
suburbs  of  the  inwalled  town,  we  soon  had  our  attention 
drawn  to  a  number  of  butchers  of  dogs,  which  they  were 
now  dressing,  and  which  had  the  appearance  of  young  pigs. 
They  reciprocated  our  smile,  and  wished  to  know  if  we 
of  the  outer  land  ate  dogs.  No,  we  assured  them,  only 
when  shipwrecked,  and  would  preserve  life  in  our  last 
extremity.  We  had  not  advanced  far  ahead  of  these 
gentry  before  they  overtook  us,  and  they  trotted  on  with 
two  baskets  slung,  one  at  either  end  of  a  bamboo-pole, 
bearing  these  identical  and  delicate  specimens  of  the  ca- 
nine species  to  the  market,  for  the  gratification  of  the 
taste  of  the  celestial  epicures. 

We  reached  the  American  hong  without  being  con- 
veyed thither  in  a  pig-basket,  as  we  have  been  told  of  a 
gentleman,  who,  it  is  said,  having  wandered  too  far  from 
the  factories,  was  very  charitably  returned  in  such  a  vehi- 
cle. Having  taken  a  bath  and  consulted  our  toilets,  we 
soon  found  ourselves  seated  at  a  fine  breakfast,  with  ap- 
petites improved  by  a  walk  of  about  six  miles,  accom- 
plished in  about  two  and  a  half  hours. 

STREETS    OF    CANTON. 

The  two  streets  of  Canton,  where  the  principal  trade 
with  the  foreigners  is  done,  with  the  exception  of  the 
regular  trade  with  the  Chinese  hong  merchants,  called  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          183 

cohong,  which  in  times  of  good  understanding  are  all 
bustle  and  life,  now  exhibit  the  appearance  of  an  "  infected 
district"  in  New- York,  when  the  yellow  fever  chances  to 
be  reported  as  prevailing.  New  China-street  is  almost 
entirely  forsaken,  the  original  opening  towards  the  river 
having  been  shut  up,  lest,  at  the  time,  an  illicit  intercourse 
should  be  held  in  supplying  the  foreigners  during  their 
"  durance  vile"  in  their  factories,  communicating  as  that 
street  does  with  the  grounds  on  which  the  factories  front. 
And  old  China-street,  the  only  one  now  remaining  open 
as  an  outlet  and  inlet  to  the  factories,  presents  the  shops 
with  closed  doors,  or  at  least  with  closed  shutters ;  though 
the  Chinese  shop-keepers  are  seen  standing  in  their  doors, 
and  cautiously  but  eagerly  invite  the  European  in  to 
trade,  while,  with  fear  and  trembling  lest  they  shall  be 
fined  by  the  mandarins,  if  seen,  they  close  their  doors  and 
commence  the  display  of  their  thousand  varieties  of  goods, 
curious  and  useful,  to  the  stranger.  Many  of  these  shop- 
keepers transported  their  goods  within  the  city  walls,  ap- 
prehending that  there  might  be  collisions  between  the  Chi- 
nese and  the  foreign  population.  But  they  soon  re-supply 
their  counters;  and  you  may  have  trinkets  of  every  species 
— valuables  of  great  interest — curiosities  long  to  gratify 
the  eye — and  variety  on  variety,  which  gives  the  stranger 
ever  renewing  interest  in  his  observation  for  the  first 
few  weeks  of  his  residence  at  this  extensive  and  only  mart 
of  foreign  trade  in  the  celestial  empire.  There  are  many 
expensive  curiosities,  which  seldom  reach  the  United 
States,  found  in  the  antique  shops  of  the  city,  as  they 
would  be  called  elsewhere ;  scenic  representations,  fre- 
quently of  considerable  beauty,  exhibiting  mountainous 
scenery,  and  variety  of  pictorial  representations  resembling 
extensive  mosaics  or  cameo  marble  slabs,  though  affirmed, 
by  the  venders,  to  be  natural ;  also  Japan  ware  of  costly 
prices  from  Japan  itself,  though  always  in  small  quantities; 
figures  in  rock  crystal,  and  crystallized  quartz  of  dark, 
opaque,  translucent,  and  purest  transparent  specimens. 
The  lacquered-ware  shops  also  present  a  great  variety  of 
furniture  and  household  wares;  work-tables;  round-tables; 
dressing-tables;  boxes  of  all  kinds;  waiters;  chess-men; 
card-cases ;  card-baskets,  &c.,  &c.,  of  ivory  and  shell. 


184  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

And  the  silver  shops,  though  the  work  exhibited  is  inferior 
in  workmanship  to  the  European,  so  far  as  plate  is  con- 
cerned, yet  present  every  variety ;  and  the  per  centage 
on  the  work  is  lower  than  at  home,  the  plainest  patterns 
in  silver  being  wrought  at  twelve  and  a  half  per  centum ; 
and  from  this  varying,  according  to  the  pattern,  to  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  per  centum.  One  article  of  silver  egg- 
stands  struck  me  as  particularly  tasteful,  exhibiting  an 
originality  of  pattern  I  had  not  before  seen.  The  filligrane 
work  in  silver  and  gold  bracelets,  and  frontlets  and  buckles, 
would  meet  the  taste  of  the  lady  delighting  in  finery,  and 
not  be  inappropriate,  so  far  as  some  of  the  silver  patterns 
are  concerned,  to  fillet  the  brow  and  to  clasp  the  wrist 
of  the  most  fastidious  in  their  selections.  But  I  should  tire 
were  I  to  enumerate  more  particularly,  and  shall  be  happy, 
if,  in  my  selections  of  Canton  trifles  or  more  valuable 
things  for  distant  friends,  they  shall  be  suited  to  their  taste. 

Every  Chinese  gentleman  as  well  as  lady  wearing  a 
fan,  at  least  in  these  southern  parts,  has  caused  particular 
attention  to  be  given  to  their  manufacture ;  and  the  va- 
rieties of  leather,  paper,  tortoise  shell,  ivory,  silk,  painted, 
stamped,  embroidered,  brocaded,  present  to  the  purchaser  all 
he  could  wish  for  making  a  collection  to  please  his  fair 
friends  at  home,  that  in  the  celestial's  own  "  flowery  lan- 
guage" they  may  bear  "the  gale,  scented  with  the  perfume 
of  flowers,  to  the  blushing  cheek."*  There  is  one  specimen 
made  of  the  feathers  of  the  Argus  pheasant,  some  of  them 
more  than  three  feet  in  diameter,  very  beautiful,  and  are 
a  light  and  pretty  thing  for  a  hand-screen. 

A  Chinese,  generally,  wears  no  cap  or  hat  except  on 
official  and  ceremonious  occasions,  and  the  fan  serves  him 
as  he  walks  to  protect  his  eyes  from  the  sun.  In  the 
shade  the  fan  again  serves  him  as  a  graceful  nothing  by 
which  his  hands  may  be  put  at  ease,  as  he  moves  the 
gentle  breeze  or  plays  with  it  unfolded. 

*  A  fan  presented  to  Dr.  Parker  by  one  of  his  grateful  patients, 
has  an  extract  from  one  of  the  old  poets  on  one  side  of  it  and  the 
following  note  of  the  transcriber  on  the  other  :  "  Tsyng  Mei,  (a  friend 
of  Ma,  who  sends  the  fan,)  copies  the  tung  shoo,  (the  pine  tree) 
and  presents  his  compliments,  and  desires  Dr.  Parker  to  refresh 
himself  with  its  breath." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  185 

There  is  a  peculiar  swing  about  the  gait  of  the  Chi- 
nese, which  they  deem  to  be  both  graceful  and  dignified. 
It  would  be  death  to  their  pretensions  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  graces  or  the  book  of  rites,  did  they  move  more 
rapidly  than  a  measured  step  would  allow.  And  there  is 
certainly,  with  their  flowing  dress,  something  very  grace- 
ful in  the  swing  of  the  mandarin's  gait. 

I  might  add  a  long  disquisition  on  the  various  products 
exhibited  for  sale  at  Canton,  now  I  am  alluding  to  some 
few  of  its  most  curious  specimens  of  the  shops.  I  could 
mention,  with  a  page  for  each,  first  the  amber  ;  which,  by 
the  way,  merits  a  more  particular  note  when  considered 
as  a  beautiful  thing  of  nature,  and  once  so  valuable  as  an 
ornament  and  for  the  use  of  the  temple  in  frankincense. 
But  more  fragrant  odors  now  rise  to  please  the  gods  of 
millions,  that  have  eyes,  and  see  not ;  ears,  and  hear  not ; 
noses,  and  smell  not.  And  then  amomum,  seeds  of  pun- 
gent and  aromatic  taste ;  and  aniseed  stars  from  the  Phi- 
lippines and  Japan  ;  beeswax  ;  benzoin  ;  bezoar  ;  bicho  de 
mar ;  and  birds'  nests,  that  peculiarly  Chinese  staple,  for 
soups,  some  of  which  I  will  exhibit  to  any  of  my  friends, 
but  cannot  afford  them  many  specimens,  as  they  cost  more 
than  their  weight  in  silver.  And  then,  thirdly,  carda- 
mons,  (elettaria  et  amomum  cardamomum,)  which  the 
Chinese  use  to  give  flavor  to  their  dishes ;  and  cassia, 
that  sweet  genus  the  laurus,  which  makes  the  name  of 
Laura,  sweet,  spicy,  "  gingerly,"  evergreen  and  beautiful, 
like  Mr.  Willis's  poetry,  whose  piece  to  little  "  Laura  W." 
is  cassia-sweet,  as  is  all  he  writes  in  rhythm.  And  then, 
cloves,  cochineal,  coral,  cubebs,  the  violet-dyeing  cudbear. 
And  then,  dragon? s-blood,  a  resinous  gum  long  known, 
once  a  favorite  substance  with  alchymists  in  their  mix- 
tures ;  elephants'  teeth ;  fish  maws  ;  gamboge  ;  ginseng, 
that  imperial  monopoly  when  produced  in  Tartary,  and 
which  the  emperor  of  China  yearly  sells  to  his  subjects  at 
the  handsome  price  of  just  its  weight  in  gold,  and  which 
the  duped  Chinese  believes  to  be  a  specific  for  every  dis- 
ease. India  ink,  too,  plain,  silvered,  and  rolled  in  gold 
leaf,  mace,  mother  of  pearl  shells,  from  which  so  many 
decorations,  trinkets,  and  various  figures,  and  letters,  and 
stamps  are  made,  and  sometimes  in  Portuguese  settle- 


186  A   VOYAGE    AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

ments  of  the  East  serve  as  window-lights,  through  which 
the  translucent  ray  streams  in  mellowed  beam  and  rich- 
ness ;  and  musk  and  myrrh,  nankeens,  nutmegs,  olibanum 
— the  frankincense  of  ancient  times  of  the  Israelites,  the 
Greeks,  the  Romans,  Hindoos,  and  Budhists,  still  burned 
in  Chinese  temples — pepper,  quicksilver,  rattans,  rhubarb, 
without  which  the  Chinese  seem  to  think  the  Americans 
and  all  the  English  and  the  world  beside  must  perish,  to 
a  certainty.  Rice — what  would  China  and  all  the  East 
do  without  rice  ?  "  Have  you  eaten  rice  1"  is  the  question 
with  the  Chinese,  if  a  friend  comes  in,  near  the  hour  of 
the  first  or  second  meal,  instead  of,  have  you  breakfasted 
or  dined.  Sandal  wood,  sapan  wood,  shells  from  the  sea 
shores,  sea-weed,  sharks'  fins,  silks,  skins,  steel,  sugar,  (I 
trust  the  reader  marks  that  I  recite  alphabetically,)  tea, 
thread,  tin,  tortoise  shell,  turmeric,  tutenague,  vermilion, 
woollens.  Surely  such  a  classification  is  not  elsewhere 
known,  even  in  the  wild  systems  of  the  Chinese,  founded 
on  the  analogy  of  their  four  elements,  air,  earth,  fire, 
water. 

My  mercantile  friends  would  give  me  no  credit  for 
acumen  in  the  trading  "  lore  and  lucre,"  were  I  to  dis- 
course much  on  traffic,  and  therefore  I  must  console  my- 
self with  the  knowledge  that  commercial  dictionaries  are 
at  their  elbows  when  they  would  learn  of  commerce 
and  trade — subjects  I  purposely  avoid,  together  with  all 
statistics,  measurements,  plans  of  edifices,  tonnage,  etc.  etc., 
only  so  far  as  it  suits  my  purposes  to  do  otherwise,  or 
would  be  inconvenient  not  to  introduce  them.  The  square 
and  compass  are  not  convenient  companions  for  a  walk — 
numbers,  my  phrenological  friend  says,  I  do  not  particu- 
larly excel  in,  though  a  very  good  mathematician,  and  yet 
more  given  to  metaphysics.* 

*  If  any  reader  of  these  volumes  should  be  disposed  to  think  the 
writer  has  indulged  too  little  in  statistics  and  local  and  commercial 
information,  connected  with  the  places  at  which  our  squadron 
touched  during  its  cruise,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  such  omission 
has  been  intended.  It  were  easy  to  compile  volumes  of  tables, 
notes  of  population,  geographical  boundaries,  and  such  like,  and 
all  this  from  books  in  one's  own  chamber  and  at  home,  as  easily 
and  as  accurately  as  abroad.  It  has  already  been  done ;  and  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  187 

And  yet  it  would  be  neglectful  of  the  memory  of  our 
ever-to-be-venerated  mothers  of  the  revolution,  who  so 
heroically  practised  abstinence  from  the  folia  of  the  China 
shrub,  were  I  so  slightingly  to  pass  over  the  tea  plant, 
with  only  the  naming  it  as  in  the  list  above.  And  I  should 
do  injustice,  too,  to  the  aromatic  recollections  of  mine 
hosts,  Mr.  Morse  and  Dr.  P.  of  the  American  hong,  did  I 
not  allude  to  the  ulong  and  poshong  with  which  their  table 
was  supplied ;  the  one  giving  forth  the  odor  of  the  mari- 
gold,— (marigold?  aye,  the  marigold — some  of  my  friends 
will  understand  my  allusion  to  the  marigold,)  and  mixed, 
yielding  to  the  taste  the  flavor  of  roses,  as  their  perfume 
comes  to  the  sense  of  smelling.  Surely  could  the  heroines 
of  those  olden  times,  already  alluded  to,  (blessed  be  their 
memory  !)  when  no  sacrifice  was  too  great  for  the  freedom 
of  their  sons,  in  whose  liberties  their  own  were  identified, 
have  been  regaled  with  the  aroma  of  the  fresh  teas  which 
have  been  served  to  us  here,  the  eventful  scenes  which 
gave  birth  to  a  new  power  among  the  nations  might  have 
been  delayed.  For  it  is  a  tempting  draught,  that  cup  of 
fresh  tea  as  it  may  be  drank  in  China,  united  with  the 
American  mode  of  serving  it  with  cream  and  sugar,  and 
most  certainly  would  have  made  some  of  the  Boston  whig 
ladies  notable  tories,  ere  they  would  have  sacrificed  such 
a  beverage.  But  one  must  take  a  voyage  to  Canton,  and 
be  an  inmate  of  the  hospitable  hosts  of  the  American 
hong,  before  one  can  gain  such  a  cup  of  tea  as  the  world 
nowhere  else  out  of  China  knows.  A  sea  voyage  dissi- 
pates, to  a  great  extent,  the  rich  flavor  that  characterizes 
the  fresh  teas  of  the  choicest  kinds,  as  they  are  drunk  by 
tea-connoisseurs  in  China. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  duration  of  my  stay  in  Canton 

books  with  these  particulars  are  on  our  shelves  or  in  every  library. 
Descriptions  of  things  one's  self  has  seen,  and  emotipns  one's  self 
has  felt  at  the  time  of  mingling  in  the  scenes  where,  for  the  time 
being,  he  has  moved,  give  him  at  least  more  acceptable  topics  for 
writing  upon,  in  his  indulgence  over  his  private  journal,  and  will 
be  most  likely  to  be  acceptable  to  those  whose  sympathies  he  is  so 
fortunate  as  to  have,  whatever  may  be  the  approbation  or  disap- 
probation of  those  (of  less  consequence  to  him)  who  enter  not  into 
his  feelings  nor  pardon  their  indulgence,  or  rather  their  expression, 
as  awakened  amid  the  incidents  and  associations  of  his  travels. 

43 


188          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

having  been  completed,  and  my  observations  hurriedly 
made,  commissions  executed,  and  my  own  wishes  very 
nearly  satisfied  as  to  the  length  of  my  visit  to  the  provin- 
cial city,  I  prepared  to  leave  on  Tuesday,  the  25th  of 
June.  My  time  had  been  rendered  agreeable  in  its  rapid 
flight  under  the  courteous  attentions  of  Dr.  Parker  and 
Mr.  Morse,  to  whom  I  am  particularly  indebted  for  the 
pleasantness  of  my  visit  at  Canton.  The  hospitality  of 
these  gentlemen  was  not  only  cordial  at  the  time,  but  a 
note  from  the  latter  assured  me,  after  my  return  to  the 
Columbia,  that  a  second  visit  would  ensure  me  another 
welcome  to  the  American  hong.  I  mention  it  to  evince 
my  sense  of  the  kindness  of  these  gentlemen,  and  the 
known  liberality  of  the  individuals  composing  the  house 
of  O.,  K.  &  Co.  At  the  other  American  houses  I  receiv- 
ed the  courtesies  with  which  the  American  gentleman 
visiting  Canton  is  assured  of  meeting  from  his  fellow 
citizens  while  there ;  and  was  happy  to  meet  them  at 
their  table,  by  whom  several  of  our  officers,  who  were 
visiting  Canton,  were  courteously  entertained. 

The  community  of  American  merchants  at  Canton 
preserve  a  style  in  living  that  does  them  credit  as  good 
livers,  while  practising  (I  am  told)  a  good  degree  of  tem- 
perance in  their  habits.  Their  tables  were  well  furnished 
— their  meals  served  in  very  creditable  style,  and  the 
system  of  domestic  arrangements,  including  their  com- 
prador and  servants,  is  among  the  most  convenient  if  not 
the  very  best  in  the  world.  The  Chinese  servants,  too, 
are  the  very  pink  of  perfection  in  their  way.  I  am  sure 
the  officers  of  both  ships  will  remember,  with  lasting 
pleasure,  the  acquaintances  they  formed  at  Canton,  and 
the  free  courtesies  they  received  from  them,  while  there. 

RETURN    TO    THE    GOOD    SHIPS. 

With  trunks,  boxes,  packages,  silver-ware,  lacquered- 
ware,  tea  chests  and  tea  caddies,  crape  shawls,  grass 
cloth  in  pieces,  grass  handkerchiefs,  silk  handkerchiefs, 
silks,  chessmen,  silver,  shell  and  ivory  card-cases,  seals, 
canes,  fans,  some  antiques,  paintings,  filligree  work,  etce- 
tera, a  company  of  nine  officers  were  on  board  of  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  189 


passage-boat  Union,  on  the  morning  of  the  25th, 
slowly  down  the  Pearl  river  on  which  Canton  is  situated, 
— passing  the  raft  of  less  than  a  million  of  tanka-boats, 
flower-boats,  passage-boats,  tea-junks,  merchant-junks, 
war-junks — the  French  and  Dutch  follies,  Howqua's  fort, 
pagodas,  Whampoa  to  the  Boga  Tigris,  constituting,  as 
the  Chinese  deem,  the  mouth  of  the  Pearl  river.  Here 
a  mandarin  boarded,  to  see  that  all  was  right.  Some 
of  the  young  gentlemen,  seeming  to  doubt  whether  an 
embargo  might  not  be  placed  upon  some  of  the  contra- 
band, were  well  away  when  once  away  from  the  easily 
appeased,  but  sometimes  disobliging  officers  of  the  cus- 
toms. The  wind  breezing  up  during  the  night,  the  next 
morning  the  Columbia  and  John  Adams,  lying  in  Tung 
Koo  Bay,  hove  in  sight ;  and  the  passengers  of  the  little 
clipper  Union,  with  their  disgorged  chattels,  were  soon 
on  board  of  their  respective  ships,  after  a  visit  to  the  cu- 
rious city  of  the  south  province  of  the  most  curious 
nation  of  the  world ;  and  with  their  curiosity  abundantly 
gratified,  and  their  curious  tastes  sufficiently  satisfied  by 
the  medley  of  curiosities  with  which  they  had  returned. 

For  myself,  the  young  dreams  occurring  in  my  boy- 
hood, associated  with  the  far  and  near  East,  have  been  suf- 
ficiently realized.  I  am  quite  ready  for  our  return  course. 

It  is  thought,  however,  that  occurrences  may  daily  take 
place  to  detain  us  here  yet  some  time  longer.  But  in  the 
present  state  of  affairs  it  is  the  intention  of  Commodore 
Read  to  leave  China,  so  soon  as  a  sufficient  supply  of 
bread  is  on  board.  The  merchants  desire  that  the  Adams 
should  be  permitted  to  remain  to  protect  the  commerce 
in  any  emergency  that  may  occur,  either  in  the  policy  of 
the  Chinese  government,  or  as  the  result  of  any  action 
that  may  take  place  on  the  part  of  the  Queen's  commis- 
sion, now  awaiting  despatches  from  the  India  Admiral, 
who  probably,  however,  will  not  re-appear  on  this  station 
until  he  shall  have  heard  from  the  British  government  at 
home,  after  its  reception  of  intelligence  of  the  present 
state  of  affairs,  into  which  the  late  difficulties  in  connec- 
tion with  the  opium  trade  has  thrown  the  foreign  com- 
merce in  China.  The  English  shipping  are  all  lying  at 
Hong-Kong,  and  form  quite  a  fleet ;  and  all  are  in  rest 


190  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

waiting  for  the  action,  dependent  upon  whatever  intelli- 
gence shall  be  received  from  the  West  as  to  the  pleasure 
of  her  Majesty,  or  her  Majesty's  ministers. 


SECTION   VI. 

TUNG  KOO  BAY. 

The  ships  at  anchor.  Sounds  beneath  the  hull  of  the  ship.  The  bull-frogs* 
serenade.  Fourth  of  July.  Ships  in  gala-dress.  Revisit  to  Macao.  Pic- 
nic.  Old  walks  renewed.  Cassa  gardens.  Farewell  to  them.  Incident. 
Lines — The  lovely  Maniac.  Final  leave  of  Macao. 

As  I  had  anticipated,  at  the  time  I  left  Macao,  the  two 
ships  moved  from  the  roads  to  Tung  Koo  anchorage- 
ground,  nearer  Canton,  to  ride  safely  during  the  typhoon 
season.  Here  they  are  in  their  solitary  but  social  position, 
while  all  the  merchant  vessels  have  proceeded  to  Hong- 
Kong.  The  bay  is  formed  by  the  main  land,  the  high 
peak  called  the  castle  peak  rising  directly  in  front  and 
north  of  us,  the  large  Lantow  on  our  right,  and  the  small 
island  of  Tung  Koo  on  our  larboard  quarter.  The  sce- 
nery is  bold,  the  high  peaks  of  Lantow,  generally  capped 
by  a  grayish  cloud,  throwing  down  the  green  mountain 
sidents  yet  darker  and  broad  folds.  Lintin  island,  so  often 
spoken  of  as  the  point  where  the  "  opium  fleet"  have  usual- 
ly concentrated,  is  seen  over  the  little  Tung  Koo,  daily 
frowning  in  its  mists,  as  they  wreath  in  sombre  dun  the 
high  cliff  of  this  to  be  future  storied  isle.  But  little  of  in- 
terest is  found  here,  save  a  quiet  which  all  love  after  a 
bustle  for  months.  Our  little  schooner,  the  Rose,  plies 
regularly  between  our  ships  and  Macao,  bringing  the 
news  and  conveying  requisitions,  and  forming  a  convey- 
ance for  letters  and  passage  to  and  from  the  ships  to  the 
city.  She  is  almost  the  only  thing  that  disturbs  the  mo- 
notony that  prevails  around — the  ripple  of  the  wave,  the 
going  and  return  of  the  shore  boats  for  water,  bathing, 
rambling,  and — sad  as  it  has  been  all  along — burying  the 
dead.  Since  the  ships  arrived  here  the  captain's  clerk  of 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  191 

the  Adams  has  died.  He  was  first  interred  on  one  of  the 
small  islands  ;  since,  in  Macao  burial-ground.  On  one  oc- 
casion, on  the  little  island  of  Tung  Koo,  I  repeated  the 
service  over  three  sailors  interred  at  the  same  time,  in 
separate  graves.  It  was  a  solemn  echo  that  came  from 
each  grave  successively,  as  the  earth  crumbled  with  its 
muffled  sound  of  "  earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to 
dust,"  on  their  coffin-lids. 

The  tides  here  set  strongly,  flooding  and  ebbing,  and 
the  waters  rush  like  a  mill-race  by  the  sides  of  the  ship. 
At  night  a  peculiar  sound  not  unfrequently  makes  its 
monotonous  rumbling,  which  comes  through  my  air-port 
like  the  croakings  of  a  million  of  frogs.  I  heard  the  same, 
at  night,  on  the  west  coast  of  Sumatra.  Some  say  they 
are  fish  around  the  bottom  of  the  vessel.  May  they  not 
rather  be  millions  of  coral  insects  ?  The  boats  and  cable- 
chains,  with  small  coral  palaces  newly  located  upon  them, 
would  seem  to  make  the  supposition  a  natural  one.  But 
I  did  not  care  at  first,  though  I  were  deceived,  in  deeming 
these  noises  the  serenading  of  that  long  and  sleek-legged 
gentry,  which,  in  defiance  of  all  their  natural  rights,  are 
conveyed  by  the  dozen  into  the  Canton  markets  as  a  gusto 
for  celestial  tastes.  These  commingling  sounds  around  the 
ship  brought  to  my  recollection  some  lines  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  the  rana  brotherhood.  I  do  not  know  to  whom 
I  must  accredit  them,  but  avail  myself,  on  the  occasion  of 
introducing  them,  to  say  that  I  will  thank  any  friend  or 
stranger  to  make  known  to  me  where  I  may  find  a  song 
called  "  The  Dutchman's  Bells,"  or  something  like  it  in 
name,  originated  by  the  custom  of  the  Dutch  teamsters 
decorating  their  horses'  headstalls  by  these  tinkling  cym- 
bals. But  the  serenade  of  the  frogs ; — ^certainly,  were  it 
set  to  Chinese  music,  it  might  prove  an  effectual  charm 
for  the  Budhists  to  put  to  a  distance  beyond  their  present 
court  in  the  Ursa  Major,  the  fairies,  so  much  an  object  of 
dread  to  the  worshippers  of  Fuh. 

THE  BULL-FROGS'  SERENADE. 

"  The  night  was  warm,  the  pool  was  still, 
No  sound  was  heard  from  lake  or  hill, 
Save  where,  upon  a  log  decayed, 
A  bull-frog  croaked  his  serenade : 
43* 


192          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

Wake,  frogess  of  my  love,  awake, 

And  listen  to  my  song ; 
The  heron  roosts  far  from  the  lake, 
The  pickerel  his  rest  doth  take 

The  water-weeds  among. 

The  sun  has  put  his  fire  out, 

The  daylight's  hardly  seen, 
No  enemy  is  round  about ; 
Then  frogess  poke  thy  lovely  snout 

Above  the  waters  green. 

For  lonely  I  am  sitting  here 

Upon  a  rotten  log, 
Oh  cast  away  all  idle  fear, 
And  for  a  moment  sweetly  cheer 

The  sight  of  thy  bull-frog. 

Oh  hop  with  me  to  other  pools, 

Where  we  may  live  and  love ; 
Where  no  cool  winds  the  warm  lake  cools, 
And  where  doth  dwell  no  human  fools, 

Those  two-legged  things  above." 

FOURTH    OF    JULY,    1839 SHIPS    IN    GALA-DRESS. 

This  glorious  Fourth  has  dawned  upon  us  with  a  bright 
sky,  smiling  in  sunny  keeping  with  the  associations  con- 
nected with  the  birthday  of  a  nation  to  its  sovereignty 
among  the  governments  of  the  earth.  And  our  ships, 
they  are  now  resting  away  from  that  western  republic  on 
the  waters  of  an  imperial  power,  which  claims  all  nations 
of  the  world  as  tributaries  ;  and  she,  whom  they  represent, 
alone  of  all  the  civilized  powers  of  earth,  has  refused  to 
bear  tribute,  when  seeking  from  the  celestial  and  self- 
complacent  empire  of  the  vaunted  "  inner  land,"  the  favors 
of  trade.  And  around  them  the  placid  waters  of  Tung 
Koo,  on  this  bright  day,  mirror  back  the  green  islets  and 
isles  rimmed  with  their  beaches  of  golden  sand ;  while 
their  elevated  peaks,  here  and  there,  are  lost  in  the  blue 
deep  above,  as  one  purple  cloud  only  is  seen  lingering 
above  the  mountain  top,  seemingly  to  say  :  "  Though,  this 
day,  your  nation's  privileges  and  homes  and  destinies  are 
bright  as  the  sunny  bay  and  blue  skies  and  green  isles  that 
surround  you,  there  were  clouds  that  overhung  the  nation 
when  your  suffering  forefathers,  in  a  clouded  hour,  strug- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  193 

gled  for  independence."  And  our  ships,  to-day,  are  ar- 
rayed in  all  the  gorgeous  apparelling  of  the  national  flags 
of  every  people,  streaming  in  the  gentle  breeze  as  it  qui- 
vers by  them  just  in  sufficient  freshness  to  lay  open  their 
graceful  folds,  and  trace  to  the  gazer's  eye  the  emblems 
of  half  a  hundred  nations.  And  Britain — olden  and  honora- 
ble Britain — though  she  was  the  power  the  infant  Colum- 
bia contended  with  and  overmatched,  it  was  an  honorable 
contention  of  mighty  powers  ;  and  now,  that  nation's  flag 
is  floating  in  honorable  distinction  at  the  main-yard  oppo- 
site the  American  ensign,  at  the  first  post  of  honor.  And 
under  the  considerate  taste  of  Lieutenant  Turk,  while  our 
ships  lie  moored  in  the  seas  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  the 
black  and  blue  and  red  and  white  of  the  Imperial  King- 
dom stream  at  the  maintopsail  yard ;  and  Muscat  and 
Siam,  our  treaty-friends  of  the  East,  and  Cochin-China 
that  would  be  our  treaty-friend,  occupy  places  of  distinc- 
tion, while  the  gems  of  Portugal,  the  gold  of  Spain,  and 
the  stripes  of  France  and  Holland  wave  from  their  several 
points,  with  corresponding  jacks  extending  from  the  royal 
yard-arms  to  the  several  trucks  of  the  now  gaudy-colored 
ship.  She  is  a  beauty  of  no  finical  taste,  but  rich  in  her 
decorations  on  this  gala-day,  displaying  her  attire  of 
varied  dies  to  the  astonishment  of  the  hundred  boats  of 
the  celestials,  who,  in  unusual  numbers,  this  morning  cover 
the  bay.  And  a  few  moments  since,  while  the  wonder- 
ing Chinese  were  yet  lingering  in  their  undisguised  ad- 
miration of  the  strange  and  gaudy  ships,  our  loud-mouthed 
cannon  spoke  the  notes  of  exultation  in  memory  of  the 
glorious  day  that  declared  the  American  nation  a  free  and 
independent  people. 

The  scene,  in  truth,  is  a  beautiful  one.  The  little 
Johnny  A.  (pity  her  name  does  not  correspond  with  her 
sex,  and  she  reminds  me  of  a  beautiful  little  girl  I  once 
knew,  by  the  name  of  Henry)  lies  but  a  short  distance 
from  us,  thinking  that  she  has  put  on  her  prettiest  holiday 
dress.  And  she  thinks  not  altogether  wrongly  either,  for 
she  often  has  good  taste ;  and,  coquette  that  she  is,  like 
most  beauties,  is  never  backward  in  exhibiting  her  ac- 
knowledged attractions. 

And  at  home — blessed  home !  how  are  ye  all  there, 


194  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

this  day  ?  I  think  I  see  at  least  one  happy-faced  group, 
smiling  among  the  green  lawns  around  them,  where  they 
have  gathered  from  the  heated  walls  of  that  mart  of  the 
western  world.  And  would  I  were  with  ye,  enjoying  the 
green  fields  and  the  luxurious  shades  of  that  sunny  seat. 
And  surely,  to-day,  ye  may  well  glory  in  your  home,  and 
love  the  land  of  the  brave  and  the  free — of  the  plentiful 
and  the  happy.  If  it  be  true  that  political  discord  some- 
times pervades  the  councils  of  your  nation,  and  jealous  and 
intriguing  ambition  wakes  the  cry  of  discontent ;  and  dis- 
union and  degeneracy  at  times  walk  undisguised  in  your 
public  halls,  with  designs  of  treachery  and  treason,  ye  are 
yet  the  happiest  people  of  the  earth — the  freest,  and  the 
determined  to  be  free.  There  is  written  on  the  brow  of 
each  of  your  citizens  the  certificate  of  his  birthright — the 
lines  of  independence  and  comfort.  And  afar  from  the 
loud  murmur  of  political  strife  rise  your  thousand  homes, 
throughout  town,  village,  and  villa,  that  tell  you  are  yet, 
and  are  long  to  continue  to  be,  a  happy  nation.  It  is  not 
mere  self-complacency  that  colors  the  picture  of  your  do- 
mestic and  even  political  economy,  which  demagogues 
and  despots  alike  would  traduce — it  is  the  reality  of  your 
quiet  homes,  and  comparatively  peaceful  rule,  that  height- 
ens the  intensity  of  the  bright  contrast  in  the  compare 
with  almost  every  other  nation  of  the  earth,  which  your 
pre-eminence  leaves  in  shade  and  sorrow.  Even  your 
own  riots,  that  so  defame  the  wisdom  of  your  institutions 
abroad,  declare  you  to  be  a  thinking  people,  and  that  the 
voice  of  a  community,  that  thinks  for  itself,  shall  rule$  and 
not  the  dictatorial  power  that  forbids  any  other  will  than 
its  own  to  be  heard.  It  was  this  independence  of  thought 
that  determined  the  actions  of  your  forefathers ;  and  the 
rich  bequest  of  thinking  for  yourselves  was  the  manly  and 
perpetual  legacy  they  left  to  bless,  in  perpetuity,  a  free 
and  independent  nation.  God  bless  thee  then,  this  day, 
my  happy  country ! 

In  the  evening  I  strolled  on  the  beach  of  the  main 
shore,  with  Lieutenants  Turk  and  Pennock.  The  sun  was 
nearing  its  dip  as  our  cutter  shoved  from  the  shore,  and 
the  two  ships  still  reposed  in  their  quiet,  with  their  flags 
streaming  in  the  level  beam  of  a  nearly  setting  sun.  The 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  195 

music  was  rolling  off,  as  we  neared  the  frigate ;  and  when 
the  sun's  last  ray  glanced  on  the  bosom  of  the  still  bay, 
the  flags  of  the  two  ships  fell,  in  unison,  from  lift,  and  stay, 
and  spar,  to  the  decks. 

REVISIT    TO    MACAO. 

The  time  of  our  leaving  the  China  seas  rapidly  ap- 
proaching, I  availed  myself  of  the  opportunity  offered  by 
the  Rose  of  revisiting  Macao,  to  take  a  final  leave  of  my 
friends  there,  whose  welcome  I  again  received,  after  an 
absence  of  a  number  of  weeks  to  Canton  and  Tung  Koo — 
retraced  some  of  my  old  pleasant  walks,  called  on  friends, 
enjoyed  a  moonlight  pic-nic  party  with  Mr.  Gutzlaflf  and 
family  and  others,  who  rambled  to  the  heights  that  over- 
look the  bay  and  the  distant  roads,  and  constitute  the  op- 
posite cone  of  the  range  of  hills  on  which  the  hermitage 
that  flanks  the  eastern  heights  of  Macao  is  located.  The 
eve  of  the  pic-nic  was  a  lovely  night,  and  still,  as  the  unrip- 
pled  surface  of  the  bay,  that  drank  the  bright  light  pouring 
softly  from  the  silver  moon,  as  she  was  seen  peering  in 
more  than  her  usual  loveliness  high  up  in  the  clear  heaven. 
The  music  of  flutes,  and  the  soft  notes  of  lady-voices,  broke 
on  the  air  of  the  still-calm  scene,  ever  more  mellow  and 
sweet  when  the  intonations  are  vibrated  on  the  soft  eddies 
of  the  moist  atmosphere  of  eve  ;  and  the  sweet  sounds  were 
borne  on  in  the  voice  of  song,  along  the  green  hill-side 
and  over  the  sleeping  waters.  "  We  met,"  was  spoken  to 
the  currents  of  the  soft  breeze  ;  and  Scotland's  airs,  in  all 
that  peculiar  style  of  Highland  melody,  were  heard  from 
the  steep,  for  Scotia  had  her  representative  there.  The 
ground  had  been  spread  with  mats ;  and  viands  and  va- 
riety for  various  tastes  had  preceded  us,  to  the  elevated 
and  romantic  spot.  And  surely  a  distant  gazer  would 
have  thought  the  fairies  were  holding  their  court,  as  they 
contemplated  the  rural  scene,  graced  by  the  flowing-haired 
maiden  and  elder  matron,  seen  by  the  soft  light  of  the 
smiling  moon,  who,  herself,  was  abroad  without  her  veil 
to-night.  Such  scenes  as  these  have  a  charm  to  the  lover 
of  soft  nature,  and  make  the  amiable  more  amiable ;  the 
lovely  more  lovely  ;  and  the  manlier  brow,  knit  by  mental 


196  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

effort,  to  relax  under  the  gentle  influence  of  the  soft  breeze 
and  moonlight  melody.  The  party  returned  by  the  Praya 
Grande,  that  pleasant  promenade  at  evening,  and  never 
more  pleasant  than  was  that  walk  this  night. 

And  I  took  my  last  of  many  rambles  in  the  cassa-gar- 
dens  the  succeeding  day,  which  I  had  thought  I  should 
find  a  place  of  welcome  resort,  during  my  stay  at  Macao. 
It  is  not  because  Camoens  sang  in  heroics  the  story  of  the 
first  adventurer  around  the  cape  of  storms,  amid  these 
shades  and  rocks — it  is  the  sweet  retreat  itself,  where  sol- 
itude becomes  a  charm,  and  friendship  lights  the  purest 
flames  upon  her  altar  when  strolling  with  those  we  esteem, 
that  will  long  secure  to  this  retreat  a  place  in  the  memo- 
ries of  the  past,  which  come  ever  acceptably  to  the  mind. 
Association — how  ever-powerful  and  irresistible  in  the 
human  mind  !  By  it,  life  is  relieved  a  thousand  times,  and 
man's  existence  of  earth  becomes  the  space  of  ages.  No- 
thing is  a  trifle  in  its  view,  and  trifles  become  worlds. 

"A  word,  a  leaf,  a  faded  flower 
Full  oft  possess  a  magic  power ; 
And  wake,  when  gentlest  memories  flow, 
The  smile  of  joy  or  tear  of  wo." 

Have  we  not  heard,  in  the  simple  echo  of  our  own  step, 
some  peculiar  sound,  as  we  paced  some  spot,  perhaps  un- 
der some  peculiar  circumstances,  which,  in  after  days,  re- 
peated in  similarity  of  echo,  has  borne  back  our  thought 
to  a  far  distant  place,  where  we  heard  that  sound  before ; 
and  then,  relieved  in  a  moment,  through  scenes  that  were 
months,  perhaps  years,  in  acting  ?  I  have  seen,  at  the  re- 
petition of  a  single  word,  an  eye  pearled  in  tears  that  had 
not  wept  before  for  months.  There  is  a  whisper  among 
the  foliage  of  the  trees,  we  may  distinguish  as  having  been 
breathed  in  other  groves.  No  one  may  forget  where  he 
first  listened  to  the  murmurs  in  the  pine-tops — with  what 
friend  he  has  moved  through  the  rustling  leaves  in  the  au- 
tumnal forest,  as,  on  some  other  forest-path,  he  re-stirs  the 
rustling  messengers  that  wake  the  memories  of  the  past. 
Nor  may  I  forget  the  cassa-groves — the  friends  with  whom 
I  have  paced  those  avenues — penetrated  the  wild  bower, 
and  together  sat  on  the  high  turret  of  the  wall  beneath  the 
embowering  trees,  and  whose  hands  have  plucked  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          197 

bough  and  mingled  it  with  gathered  flowers  as  the  offering 
of  friendship.  There  are,  of  whom  it  is  poetry  to  think, 
and  piety  to  love.  And  though  I  eschew  all  sentimental- 
ism,  I  estimate  with  delicacy  and  vividness  the  refined  fe- 
male character,  always  sweet,  yet  a  thousand  times  more 
sweet  where  religion  is  blended  with  its  elements.  Cassa, 
and  its  light,  and  its  shade,  and  rock  and  avenue,  and  Ca- 
moens'  olden  cave  of  granite,  and  embowered  turret,  and 
scenes  among  which,  with  friends  or  in  solitude,  I  have 
promenaded,  adieu  ! — all,  save  one  scene — adieu  ! 

And  that  one  scene,  how  it  lies  in  my  memory !  I  may 
not,  nor  would  I  forget  it  if  I  might.  I  am  not  certain  that 
I  should  so  freely  narrate  it.  I  had  several  times  passed 
an  old  gentleman  in  this  garden,  attended  by  his  daughter, 
on  my  evening  walks.  He  is  a  Portuguese  from  Lisbon, 
of  some  family  consideration,  and  deemed  a  man  of  prop- 
erty. He  married  an  English  lady,  who  was  a  Protestant 
and  died  not  long  ago.  The  young  lady,  his  daughter,  is 
a  light  brunette,  with  an  exquisite  head  of  hair,  playing  in 
unconfined  ringlets  upon  her  neck.  The  Portuguese  resi- 
dents here,  wear  no  bonnets.  A  little  incident  had  made 
me  acquainted  with  the  father,  who  speaks  English,  as  did 
his  family.  The  young  lady,  for  some  months  past,  has 
partially  lost  her  mind,  but  not  all  her  vivacity.  Her  father 
said  she  did  not  perceive  the  change  in  herself,  but  thought 
it  to  be  in  others. 

I  sat  one  evening  on  the  elevated  wall,  to  which  I  have 
already  alluded  as  the  embowered  turret,  approached  by 

a  flight  of  rustic  steps.  Mr.  and  his  daughter  came 

near  as  I  rose  ;  and  the  daughter  placing  her  delicate  hand 
upon  my  arm,  while  her  own  still  rested  within  her  father's, 
she  said,  "  You,  Senhor,  are  not  among  those  who  have 
changed  to  me !"  I  could  have  wept,  but  only  pitied  and 
admired.  It  was  a  subject  worthy  of  a  betfer  composition 
than  the  following,  which  it  prompted: 

THE  LOVELY  MANIAC. 

They  loved  me  once,  but  now  they're  changed, 

And  look  with  scornful  eye, 
Though  oft  with  arm  in  arm  we've  ranged 

When  none  seemed  loved  as  I. 


198  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

They  listened  to  my  plaintive  song 
When  I  would  have  them  weep ; 

And  wished  I  would  the  glee  prolong 
When  merry  strings  I'd  sweep. 

But  all  things  now  seem  changed  to  me 

Except  old  faithful  Rove  ;* 
He  shakes  his  shaggy  ears  in  play, 

And  dearer  seems  to  love. 

E'en  when  I  walk  the  garden-path 

And  seat  me  in  the  bower, 
Less  sweet  I  deem  the  perfume  breath, 

Nor  find  my  favorite  flower. 

The  birds  that  came  with  fluttering  wing 

Among  the  garden  trees, 
Less  merrily  their  carols  sing 

Upon  the  evening  breeze. 

Oh  what  can  be  this  fearful  change 

On  all  around  I  see  1 
They  said,  though  they  the  world  should  range, 

The  envied  I  should  be. 

But  not  as  once  I  deem  they  love ; 

They  sometimes  whisper  low  ; 
And  though  they  call  me  oft  their  dove, 

'Twas  once  with  smiles,  not  now. 

And  they  would  smooth  my  sunny  hair 

With  fondness  of  caresses, 
And  say  so  soft,  there's  none  so  fair 

As  she  with  raven  tresses. 

My  mother,  when  she  lived,  would  say, 

"  Sweet  Mary,  come  to  me, 
Do  you  forget,  thou  dark-blue  eye, 

The  kiss  that's  due  from  thee  1" 

But  she,  some  months  ago,  hath  gone 

Wipre  spirits  like  her  live, 
She  thought  she  left  me  not  alone, 

And  oh,  who  could  believe  1 

But  meekness  is  an  angel's  charm, 

And  beauty  has  its  spells, 
And  I  would  not  resent  nor  harm, 

But  win  with  playful  smiles. 

*  The  name  of  their  old  favorite  dog  is  Pirato,  Eng.  Rover. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  199 

And  yet  my  heart  will  sometimes  break, 

They  look  so  strange  and  cold ! 
And  then  my  silent  room  I  seek 

And  weep  my  woes  untold. 

For  God  is  there  alone  to  see 

The  sighs  my  bosom  swell, 
As  I  before  Him  bend  the  knee 

And  all  my  sorrows  tell. 

And  he  is  all  unlike  to  those 

So  strange  that  seem  to  me ; 
And  has  a  heart  that  feels  my  woes, 

And  says,  He  pities  me  ; 

And  if  they  all  forsake  me  else, 

Not  He  will  Mary  leave  ; 
And  though  the  world  is  surely  false, 

None  trusts  in  Him  to  grieve. 

And  when  the  summer  months  are  o'er, 

And  they  will  dig  my  grave, 
In  heaven,  He  tells  me,  tears  no  more 

My  lilied  cheek  shall  lave  ! 

The  Rose  was  to  leave  her  anchorage  in  the  bay  for 
Tung  Koo,  after  dinner.  It  might  be  her  last  trip.  I  had 
spent  a  very  agreeable  week  in  Macao,  and  was  on  board 
the  schooner  at  the  time  appointed.  Towards  sunset  the 
anchor  was  aweigh,  and  the  Rose  standing  slowly  out  the 
harbor  ;  and  I,  at  least,  am  not  again  to  visit  Macao.  At 
the  extreme  end  of  Praya  Grande  was  to  be  seen  a  single 
couple — a  gentleman  and  lady — on  their  evening  prome- 
nade. The  schooner  was  known,  and  for  a  moment  they 
paused  and  a  white  handkerchief  was  waving.  I  took  the 
compliment  and  repeated  the  adieu. 

44 


200          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


SECTION  VII. 

Getting  under  way  and  leaving  Tung  Koo  bay.  Gale,  and  near  shipwreck 
on  a  lee  shore.  Entrance  to  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  Eclipse.  Water- 
spout. Crossing  the  180°  of  longitude.  Gaining  a  day.  Melancholy  loss 
of  men.  In  sight  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

"  I  PRETEND  not  to  be  weather-wise,  Mr.  M.,"  I  remark- 
ed to  the  Purser  as  I  joined  him  on  the  quarter-deck, 
while  our  ship  was  just  ready  to  trip  her  anchor  on  the 
morning  of  our  leaving  Tung  Koo  bay;  "but  if  all  the 
sailors'  signs  be  true,  we  shall  have  more  wind  before  we 
have  less." 

The  John  Adams,  lying  in  a  different  position  from  our- 
selves, had  already  gotten  under  way,  being  towed  through 
a  different  pass,  as  her  position  was  more  favorable  with 
regard  to  the  tide,  which  delayed  us  for  an  hour  and  more, 
before  we  could  double  the  head  of  Tung  Koo  island. 

It  was  four  bells  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  our 
ship  unmoored  her  last  hold  on  the  celestial  empire.  The 
sky  was  deeply  blue,  and  beautiful  beyond  any  morning  I 
had  before  remarked  it ;  and  on  this  field  of  calm  loveli- 
ness lay  the  soft  and  elongated  cloud,  with  its  spread  train 
and  feathery  edge,  more  enchanting  in  its  pencilled  fringe 
than  I  had  ever  remarked  that  species  of  the  airy  coursers, 
which  the  seamen  call  the  mares'  tails.  They  slumbered 
in  their  unearthly  and  sweet  rest  as  they  lay,  few  and  at 
far  distances  from  each  other,  with  the  mackerel  backs,  in 
their  checkered  and  broken  layers,  filling  more  closely  the 
higher  up  portions  of  the  blue — deeply  blue  concave. 
Few  mornings  ever  broke  more  fair — few  skies  ever  look- 
ed more  beautiful,  as  these  clouds  in  the  play  of  their  elec- 
tric points  varied  the  rich  and  sunny  heaven.  One  mystic 
nimbus  was  alone  to  be  seen  amid  all  this  rich  beauty,  as 
it  wreathed  its  dark  folds  around  the  highest  peak  of  Lin- 
tin,  an  island  in  the  near  distance,  as  if  to  say,  "  skies  the 
brightest  are  not  always  unclouded." 

The  breeze  springing  up,  we  stood  down  the  Macao 
Roads,  under  a  gentle  press  of  canvass,  unable  to  take  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  201 

more  northern  and  eastern  pass  ;  and  soon  after  dismissed 
the  pilot,  with  the  hopes  and  the  prospects  of  gaining,  with 
the  increasing  and  favorable  wind,  a  long  stretch  before 
nightfall,  from  this  island-bound  coast. 

All  were  congratulating  themselves  and  each  other  on 
their  happy  escape  from  Tung  Koo.  We  had  seen  enough 
of  the  celestials,  at  their  homes  ;  and  this  point  seemed 
now,  to  us,  the  starting  place  of  our  return  to  our  own 
dear  land  ;  while  every  benevolent  heart  looked  forward 
to  our  soon  gaining  a  more  northern  latitude,  which,  it  was 
hoped  and  believed,  would  give  substance  to  many  of  the 
shadows  which  were  moving,  like  so  many  ghosts,  over 
our  decks,  and  add  nerve  to  the  decayed  energies  of  the 
ship's  company.  Every  step  now  seemed  to  plant  itself 
more  firmly  on  the  deck,  and  every  chest  breathed  already 
more  freely  as  the  freshening  breeze  bore  on  our  ships, until, 
with  the  sunset,  all  apprehension  of  a  lee  shore  escaped 
the  visions  of  the  wary  sailor. 

"  Stand  by  to  furl  the  royals,  I  say  !"  cried  the  officer  of 
the  deck,  after  the  Commodore  had  taken  a  few  rounds  on 
the  quarter-deck,  and  scanned  the  prospects  of  the  weather 
for  the  night. 

"  Haul  taught — in  royals  !"  was  the  next  order ;  and  a 
moment  had  not  passed  when  those  far-up  sails,  looking  so 
like  the  palm  of  a  man's  hand  in  their  breadth,  as  they  are 
spread  upon  the  highest  spars  of  the  ship,  were  gathered 
to  the  slim  and  highest  yards  of  the  masts. 

"  We  divined  not  wrongly,  Purser,  as  we  read  that  beau- 
tiful sky  this  morning : 

'  Mackerel  skies  and  mares'  tails 
Make  lofty  ships  carry  low  sails.'  " 

The  Purser  and  myself,  at  this  pleasant  hour,  were  tres- 
passing, with  other  officers  of  the  ward-room,  on  the  arm- 
chest  of  the  quarter-deck,  while  these  orders  were  being 
given. 

"  Man  the  top-gallant  clewlines — weather-brace — hand 
by  the  lee-brace — lay  aloft  to  furl  the  top-gallant  sails  !" 
again  cried  the  officer,  through  his  trumpet,  as  the  breeze 
continued  to  freshen,  and  the  ship,  under  the  impulse  of  the 
pressure  upon  her  canvass  now  and  ever  met,  with  a  bound 


202  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

that  bid  defiance  to  the  wave,  the  cleft  surge,  which  the  fresh 
breeze  of  the  day  had  begun  to  conjure  up  to  a  greater 
magnitude  each  moment  we  had  been  deepening  our  water, 
in  its  blue  and  fathom. 

"  Haul  taught — let  go  the  halliards  and  lee-sheet — clew 
down !  Let  go  the  weather-sheet — clew  up !"  A  moment 
only  passed,  and  the  top-gallant  sails  of  the  fore,  main,  and 
mizzen,  lay  as  snugly  to  their  yards,  as  ever  lady  plaited 
surplice  over  stomacher  or  roll  on  dress. 

The  ship  was  deemed  snug  for  the  night ;  and  as  the 
hours  advanced,  with  the  continuance  of  the  fresh  and 
favorable  breeze,  all,  save  the  watches  in  their  turn,  were 
lost  at  the  usual  time  in  their  hammocks,  cot,  or  bed. 

The  hour  had  reached  a  little  past  the  mid-watch  of  the 
night,  without  awakening  the  apprehensions  of  the  officer 
of  the  deck  beyond  the  attentive  marking  of  the  weather, 
until  a  dark  squall,  as  if  magic  had  gained  some  new  pow- 
ers in  rapidity  of  movement,  came  down  upon  the  ship, 
and  with  its  heavy  breath,  shivered  to  ribands  every  sail 
that  was  set  upon  the  ship. 

It  was  a  sorry  sight,  as  the  day  broke,  to  see  the  tattered 
sails,  that  had  been  with  difficulty  gathered  to  the  yards. 
The  squall  had  now  given  place  to  a  steady  gale,  increasing 
every  hour  in  its  force  and  fury ;  and  the  ship  was  now 
lying  to  under  fore  storm-staysail  and  the  main  and  miz- 
zen trysails.  The  royal  and  top-gallant  yards  had  been 
sent  down,  the  topsail  yards  clewed  down,  and  the  Colum- 
bia, in  her  storm-dress,  now  abided  the  war  of  elements, 
the  torrents  of  rain,  and  the  hurricane  of  winds.  The  rains 
for  a  while  ceased,  while  the  winds  yet  drove  the  sheets  of 
spray  in  their  horizontal  layers  from  the  cleft  tops  of  the 
high  waves  in  as  drenching  volumes  through  the  cordage 
of  the  nearly  naked  ship,  as  were  the  torrents  themselves. 
A  new  course  was  bent  while  the  frigate  lay  to  like  a  life- 
boat on  the  billow,  though  the  sea  had  now  swollen  to  the 
mountain-surge.  The  John  Adams,  under  the  same  sail, 
was  seen  at  the  windward,  apparently  with  all  things  snug, 
like  a  phantom  craft,  and  at  times  under  bare  poles,  as  the 
two  ships  rose  together,  or  again  sunk,  so  that  the  trucks 
of  either  became  for  a  moment  invisible  to  the  other,  and 
the  next,  rose  with  their  hulls  and  every  cord  distinctly 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  203 

traceable  on  the  wild  and  dun  sky.  And  then,  those  winds, 
those  howling  winds  of  the  gale,  as  they  murmured  with 
a  voice  more  doleful  than  could  be  the  chant  of  a  thou- 
sand spirits  of  lost  mariners  engulfed  by  the  raging  storm, 
came  through  our  rigging,  with  omens  of  dark  things  to  the 
ship. 


Thus  the  two  cruisers  stood  on  their  parallel  tracks  for 
the  day,  bounding  from  surge  to  surge,  or  drifting  from 
ravine  of  water  to  leeward  ravine,  while  the  roll  of  the  sea 
spread  out  its  giant  proportions,  now  tumbling  from  its 
height  to  find  its  level  as  the  top  broke  in  its  cataract  of 
foam  to  the  deep  and  blue  declivities  of  the  billows  ;  or  at 
times,  threw  its  broad  sheet  in  a  crystal  river  across  the 
bulwarks  of  our  ship. 

The  wind  in  its  fury  fell  not  as  the  coming  night  shut  in 
44* 


204          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

again  upon  the  dark  sea  ;  but  its  fearful  impulses  increased 
as  the  night  watches  advanced.  The  shipwas  thoroughly 
soaked  by  the  driving  surges  which  dashed  against  the 
Columbia,  now  penetrating  the  partial  openings  of  the 
closed  port-holes  or  coming  from  the  hatchways  of  the 
upper-deck  ;  and  our  ward-room  was  afloat  from  the  sea 
that  drove  with  an  irresistible  force  against  the  stern-ports, 
and  penetrated  by  the  rudder  coat.  And  the  sick  were 
in  their  darkness,  and  distress,  but  delaying  death.  But 
wet  as  was  the  ship,  and  shivered  as  were  her  sails,  the 
revelation  of  the  morning  had  not  been  anticipated  for  its 
fearful  apprehension,  and  the  critical  circumstances  in 
which  the  gallant  bark  was  found.  The  top-gallant  masts, 
notwithstanding  the  back-stays  wrere  well  taught,  bent  like 
a  withe  in  the  roll  of  the  ship;  and  the  morning  discover- 
ed, as  trifles  in  these  circumstances,  that  the  main-top-gal- 
lant-mast had  been  carried  away,  together  with  the  main- 
trysail  mast ;  and  one  of  the  boats,  without  having  been 
heard  in  the  loud  roar  of  the  winds  as  it  was  disengaged 
by  some  surge  from  the  davits,  had  gone  on  its  wild  buf- 
fet of  the  waves. 

With  sea-room,  and  the  gale  might,  if  it  please,  blowr  its 
worst  in  typhoon,  hurricane,  and  tempest,  and  we  would 
trust  the  good  Columbia  to  her  stumps,  evincing,  as  she  did, 
her  stanch  qualities,  without  admitting  a  drop  of  water 
through  her  lower  planks,  and  bounding  and  rebounding 
like  some  light  but  solid  trunk  of  a  forest  mammoth,  wrhich 
the  storm  of  ages  might  beat  upon  uninjured  and  unyield- 
ing, in  the  tight  work  of  her  admirable  mechanism.  But 
the  rock,  and  the  coral  reef,  and  shoal,  and  sand  bar,  in 
union  with  the  surge  of  the  open  ocean,  and  the  wild  gale 
that  shows  no  pity  in  its  madness,  would  make  even  a  thing 
so  fair  and  faithful  as  the  frigate  that  had  so  justly  secured 
our  confidence  and  attachment,  a  mere  cradle  of  bulrush- 
es, were  she  once  to  strike  upon  them,  in  the  tumult  of  the 
elements  that  were  now  driving  above,  and  raging  around, 
and  rolling  beneath  us.  But  it  was  hoped  that  we  had 
gained  an  offing,  the  first  twenty-four  hours,  of  some  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles ;  and  it  must  be  a  fearful  drift  of  tides 
and  drive  of  winds,  that  could  have  borne  us  in  danger- 
ous nearness  to  the  coast.  The  dark  clouds  had  per- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  205 

mitted  no  observation,  and  the  log  could  not  give  us  the 
tides  and  the  drift.  The  second  morning  broke,  and  the 
storm  had  not  lowered  its  voice ;  and  the  hurricane  in  its 
torrent-tempest  now  blended  its  fury  with  the  heaviest  roll 
of  the  sea,  heaving  in  its  wildest  commotion.  None  but 
the  mariner,  then,  could  estimate  the  fearful  development 
of  the  daybreak,  as  the  morn  let  fall  its  early  light  on  a 
suddenly  changed  sea  in  its  color, from  the  deep  blue  of  the 
fathomless  ocean,  to  the  pale  green  of  soundings.  The 
lead  in  its  cast  gave  the  shallow  water  of  but  twenty-five 
fathoms,  and  in  the  drift  of  a  few  more  casts,  but  twenty- 
two  fathoms,  still  decreasing,  while  the  elements  commin- 
gled their  continued  and  unabating  furies. 

All  hands  were  called.  Even  the  sick  were  summoned 
from  their  hammocks.  On  a  lee-shore  no  officer  would 
venture  the  ship  within  twenty  fathoms,  in  so  wild  a  blow; 
and  the  tide  and  the  gale  were  sweeping  her  each  mo- 
ment nearer  to  the  invisible  land,  now  impossible  to  be 
seen  through  the  whirling  mists  a  hundred  lengths  of  the 
ship.  Our  sails,  then,  seemed  our  only  salvation  ;  and  yet 
they  had  all  been  riven  to  a  useless  mass  of  parcelling  ; 
while  our  anchors,  in  such  a  roll  of  the  sea,  would  neces- 
sarily be  the  last  resort.  New  topsails  therefore  were 
bent  by  the  already  far-spent  and  nearly  exhausted  crew, 
while  the  Commodore,  in  a  consultation  with  three  of  his 
principal  officers,  decided  that  the  anchors  should  not  be 
cast  so  long  as  twenty  fathoms  of  water  swept  beneath 
the  ship.  And  yet  no  sails  could  stand  in  such  a  gale,  to 
enable  the  frigate  to  beat  from  off  the  shore  ;  and  no  ship 
could  tack  in  such  a  sea  ;  and  no  anchors,  it  was  believed, 
could  hold  a  ship  driven  by  such  a  commotion  of  the  roll- 
ing ocean  ;  or,  if  anchors  held,  the  ship  must  swamp  be- 
neath the  surge  as  it  broke  in  its  sweep  above  the  decks, 
and  the  masts,  without  a  remedy,  go  by  the  board.  And 
yet  the  ship,  in  her  drift  of  another  fifteen  minutes,  might 
strike  ;  and  if  the  gale  continued  but  a  few  hours  longer, 
and  the  wind  held  its  point  where  it  was,  she  must  strike 
on  rock,  or  reef,  or  sand  ;  and  in  either  case,  in  such  a 
swell,  those  who  best  knew  the  dangers,  cherished  least 
the  hope  of  rescue  to  a  single  soul  of  the  frigate's  crew. 

Was  it  a  miracle  ?     It  served  us  the  same  as  if  the  AL- 


206  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

mighty  had  extended  his  arm  from  the  cloud,  and  pointed 
to  the  winds,  whither, for  our  safety,  to  change  their  course! 
The  rain  in  its  last  torrents  seemed  to  have  pressed  down 
the  sea  to  the  ocean's  level,  by  the  weight  of  the  cataracts 
that  fell  in  their  last  effort.  A  lull  came  in  a  moment 
more.  The  crew,  in  their  exhaustion,  and  drenched  for 
hours,  without  sustenance,  had  but  just  completed  the 
bending  of  the  sails  to  supply  the  canvass  riven  in  the 
gale,  when  the  wind,  as  if  by  enchantment,  came  out  from 
another  quarter.  In  a  moment  more  it  fell  upon  our 
courses  and  topsails,  which  had  been  braced  around  as 
the  ship  wore,  and  on  another  tack  she  now  lay  several 
points  further  from  the  land.  With  the  change  of  wind 
came  a  lifting  of  the  mists  ;  and  under  our  lee,  within  four 
hours  more  drift  of  the  gale,  lay  the  high  bluffs  of  an  iron- 
bound  coast !  From  this,  in  twelve  hours  more  of  light 
and  freshening  and  favorable  breezes,  we  parted,  beyond 
solicitude  or  care. 

For  myself,  I  seldom  experience  much  of  the  emotion 
of  fear,  in  circumstances  of  danger ;  and  in  this  instance 
could  but  slightly  estimate  the  critical  circumstances  of  the 
ship,  compared  with  those  who  had  made  many  voyages, 
and  encountered  many  dangers.  No  sign  of  alarm,  how- 
ever, marked  the  energetic  action  of  the  officers  or  the 
unwearied  efforts  of  the  crew  ;  while  a  gravity,  becoming 
the  circumstances  of  the  ship,  prevailed. 

On  the  succeeding  Sabbath,  the  attentive  solemnity  at 
our  usual  services  indicated  that  there  was  no  heart  pres- 
ent that  did  not  respond  to  the  sentiment  of  the  following 
prayer,  which  a  sincere  emotion  of  gratitude,  in  my  own 
heart  at  least,  had  dictated,  for  the  becoming  thanksgiving 
of  the  day : 

"  O  God,  who  boldest  the  wave  and  the  wind  in  thy 
palm,  and  at  whose  command  the  gale  awakes,  and  the 
sea  rages  ;  we  give  thee  our  thanks  that  our  lives  have 
been  spared,  and  that  our  ship  has  been  preserved  through 
the  dangers  of  the  gale,  which  has  swept,  in  its  fury,  so 
lately  by  us.  May  we  feel  that  our  lives  are  in  thy  hand  ; 
and  that  our  breath  is  the  gift  of  thy  favor ;  and  attribute 
the  continuance  of  our  mortal  existence  to  the  Providence 
which  has  sustained  us.  When  there  was  no  hope  in 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          207 

mortal  power — when  the  winds  and  the  tides  were  sweep- 
ing us  fast  and  fearfully  upon  apprehended  dangers — and 
when  the  hour  had  nearly  come,  that  would  bear  with  it 
destruction  to  our  ship,  and  probably  death  to  many  of  its 
crew,  thy  voice  was  heard  by  the  winds  ;  and  at  thy  mer- 
ciful mandate  they  changed  their  course.  Oh  God  !  we 
thank  THEE,  therefore,  for  our  safety.  We  thank  thee, 
for  ourselves,  that  our  day  of  probation  is  continued  to 
us ;  we  thank  thee,  for  our  friends,  that  they  will  be  spared 
the  sorrows  of  the  tidings  that  our  loss  would  have  gath- 
ered upon  them.  But  may  we  always  remember  that  our 
last  day,  however  long  our  lives  may  be  protracted,  will 
come  suddenly  upon  us.  May  we  therefore  use  the  days 
that  are  continued  to  us  in  rightful  repentance  of  the  past, 
and  in  solemn  and  devoted  discipleship  to  thee  for  the 
future ;  that  whether  we  die  soon  and  suddenly,  or  live 
yet  for  years  and  leave  the  world  by  a  protracted  illness, 
we  may  be  thine — thine,  through  the  eternal  ages  of  thy 
blessed  kingdom,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour. Amen." 

We  lost  sight  of  the  John  Adams  on  the  second  night 
of  the  gale,  but  joined  company  again  a  few  days  after- 
wards, and  together,  on  the  16th  day  of  August,  entered 
the  Pacific  ocean  from  the  China  seas.  It  was  a  brilliant 
day  over  head  and  a  deep  blue  sea  beneath ;  and  the  two 
ships,  with  studdingsails  set,  glided  gaily,  after  the  storm, 
through  the  pass  between  the  Luzons  and  the  Formosa  to 
the  long-desired  and  bright  waters  of  the  Pacific.  Such 
a  departure  from  the  olden  lands  and  treacherous  seas  of 
the  strange  Sinices  to  the  ocean  of  sunny  isles  is  indeed  a 
welcome  incident  to  the  tempest-tossed,  after  having  been 
buffeted  by  the  wild  wave  and  dark  winds,  and  threatened 
shipwreck  among  the  breakers  of  a  leeward  shore.  We 
leave  ye,  then,  seas  of  the  olden  land,  with  willing  hearts, 
but  with  hearts  that  will  not  forget  the  scenes  we  there 
have  witnessed  and  mingled  in.  And  it  is  with  an  elation 
of  spirit  we  enter  the  blue  waters  of  the  placid  ocean,  as 
our  visions  take  in  the  welcome  combinations  of  hopes 
and  happy  scenes  and  anticipated  delights  that  await  us, 
on  the  re-meeting  with  our  friends  at  home — for,  we  are 
now  on  our  return-way  to  those  who  will  not  have  forgot- 


208          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ten — who  will  give  us  welcome — for,  our  own  yearnings 
assure  us  of  the  coming  response  of  their  affectionate 
hearts.  God  be  thanked  for  the  past — and  trusted  in  for 
the  future — and  hoped  in,  in  all  the  circumstances  of  this 
world — and  loved  through  immortality. 

WATER-SPOUT. 

We  have  been  fortunate  in  witnessing  two  eclipses,  on 
our  voyage,  which  our  friends  at  home  will  not  have  seen. 
And  a  peculiar  water-spout  has  added  to  the  number  of 
sights  and  incidents,  which  have  served,  in  some  degree, 
to  vary  the  monotony  of  our  tedious  passage  from  the 
China  seas  onward,  to  the  port  of  Honolulu,  lying  five 
thousand  miles  distant,  at  least,  from  Macao  Roads.  The 
spout  passed  slowly  across  our  wake,  within  a  few  fathoms 
of  our  ship,  sailing  free  at  the  moment,  in  a  still  ocean,  but 
with  a  gentle  breeze  filling  her  studdingsails.  It  descended 
from  a  dark  cloud  in  a  bent  column,  apparently  six  or  eight 
feet  in  diameter,  of  a  dark  misty  color,  creating  an  appar- 
ent commotion  at  the  point  ot  its  contact  with  the  blue 
bosom  of  the  deep. 

I  am  confident  there  was  no  ascending  or  descending 
current  of  water  of  greater  density  than  a  sudden  conden- 
sation of  a  small  volume  of  air  would  produce,  which, 
however,  was  sufficient,  in  this  instance,  to  exhibit  the  ap- 
pearance of  descending  currents.  But  they  could  only 
have  been  strata  of  heavy  mists.  Had  it  been  otherwise, 
the  column  of  water  must  have  possessed  a.  perpendicular 
form,  and  ended  suddenly,  as  the  volume  of  water  spent 
itself.  On  the  contrary,  the  moving  column  broke  nearly 
in  the  centre — contracting  its  ends  to  a  point,  and  exhibit- 
ing two  cones,  with  the  base  of  one  in  the  clouds,  the  base 
of  the  other  on  the  sea,  and  each  drifting  to  the  leeward 
like  two  narrow,  elongated,  and  tapering  clouds  of  mist. 

But  an  incident  of  more  interest  than  that  of  crossing 
the  equator,  or  looking  the  third  time  upon  an  eclipse,  or 
water-spout,  was  our  crossing  the  180th  meridian  of  lon- 
gitude ;  where  and  when,  unlike  the  "  noble  Roman"  and 
Dr.  Ruschenberger,  who  each  lamented  that  he  had  "  lost 
a  day,"  we,  on  the  contrary,  exclaimed  that  "  we  had 


A  VOYAGE  AHOUND  THE  WORLD.          209 

gained  a  day;"  and,  adding  another  Thursday  to  our 
reckoning,  evidenced  the  inaccuracy  of  another  verbal 
fallacy,  "  that  two  Thursdays  never  come  together." 

But  the  curious,  the  bright,  and  the  terrible,  that  often 
meet  the  voyager  on  the  ocean,  have  not  rendered  our  pas- 
sage through  the  Pacific  ocean,  thus  far,  otherwise  than  a 
very  sad  one.  It  was  sincerely  hoped,  that,  so  soon  as 
our  ship  should  reach  a  northern  latitude,  our  sick-list 
would  diminish,  and  our  apparently  convalescent  cases  be- 
come much  improved  in  health.  But  the  gale  we  had  ex- 
perienced, and  the  loss  of  fresh  provisions  which  had  been 
laid  in  for  the  sick,  as  a  consequence  of  the  gale,  and  the 
obstinacy  and  almost  incurableness  of  the  disease  of  the 
dysentery  of  the  East,  made  our  ship  a  floating  hospital. 
We  left  the  roads  of  Macao  with  more  than  a  hundred 
and  twenty  on  the  sick-list ;  and  death  seemed  the  only 
power  that  diminished  the  old  numbers,  while  new  cases  or 
the  recurrence  of  old  ones  supplied  the  vacancies  that  this 
perpetual  comer  among  our  numbers  continued  to  reduce. 

In  one  instance,  three  of  our  crew  have  been  given  to 
the  deep,  at  the  same  moment ;  in  another,  two ;  and  on 
two  or  three  days  at  different  times  of  the  day,  two  others. 
In  all,  since  the  time  of  our  leaving  the  anchorage  of  Tung 
Koo,  and  this  day,  the  10th  of  October,  on  nearing  the 
anchorage-ground,  off  Honolulu,  Sandwich  Islands,  we 
have  lost  twenty-six  men. 

But  the  sight  of  these  fair  isles,  rising  high  up,  from 
the  placid  expanse  of  the  wide  and  deep  ocean,  beneath 
a  sky  so  fair,  and  a  climate  so  mild  and  sunny,  as  this  day 
presents,  in  the  latitude  and  longitude,  and  in  full  sight  of 
the  island  of  Oahu,  cheers  every  heart  and  delights  every 
anxious  mind,  in  the  anticipation  of  supplying  our  ships 
with  the  necessaries  for  the  sick,  and  for  the  recruiting  of 
an  exhausted,  dwindling,  dying  crew. 

For  myself,  I  record  it,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  kind- 
ness of  a  Providence  I  would  never  distrust,  that  after  an 
illness  of  three  weeks,  I  am  again  convalescent,  and,  in 
the  opinion  of  our  benevolent  and  Christian  surgeon,  pre- 
pared rapidly  to  be  reinstated  to  usual  health,  at  our  pause 
of  a  few  weeks  at  these  islands,  never  more  welcome  to 
the  weather-beaten  and  distressed,  than  to  us. 


210          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

SECTION    VIII. 

SANDWICH  ISLANDS. 
HONOLULU. 

Honolulu.  Delightful  climate.  Courteous  reception.  Call  at  Mrs.  L.'s. 
Dr.  R.  and  Rev.  Mr.  S.  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham  preaches  on  board  the  Co- 
lumbia.  Sixteen  thousand  natives  members  of  the  church.  No  milk  on 
Sunday.  A  still  Sabbath,  to  America  a  national  characteristic.  Resi- 
dence on  shore.  Houses  of  the  missionaries.  Natives  on  their  way  to 
their  meetings.  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  interpreter  to  the  king.  Letter  to 
his  Majesty  Kammahamaha.  Coral  church.  Native  congregation  at 
worship.  Tea  at  Mrs.  Deill's.  A  marriage ;  and  the  marriage  party. 
Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith.  Sunday  on  shore.  Address  to  the  native  con- 
gregation. The  native  dress.  The  natives  in  the  transition  state  from 
savage  to  civilized  life.  Success  of  the  mission.  Disparagement  of  the 
missionary  action  justly  to  be  frowned  upon.  Tea  at  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham's. 
Night-blooming  ceres.  Meet  his  Majesty  Kammahamaha  at  Dr.  Judd's, 
at  tea.  The  king  forced  to  abrogate  the  temperance  law,  and  admit  French 
brandy  into  the  islands.  Impolicy  of  reviving  the  ancient  games.  Messrs. 
Castle,  Knapp,  Cook.  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  family.  Lua  at  the  Pari. 
Salt  lake.  Success  of  the  missionary  enterprise  at  the  Sandwich  Islands. 
Visit  of  the  French  frigate  1'Artemise.  Manifesto  of  the  French  captain. 
Protection  offered  to  all  foreign  residents  but  the  American  missionaries — 
an  insult  to  the  American  citizenship  and  American  rights.  Distress  of 
the  mission  families.  Testimony  of  the  officers  of  the  squadron  to  the 
disinterested  and  successful  labors  of  the  missionaries.  Farewell  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands. 

OUR  ship  anchored  in  the  Roads  of  Honolulu,  Thurs- 
day morning,  October  the  tenth.  A  sheet  of  beautiful 
water  spreads  out  itself  between  our  ship  and  the  coral 
reefs,  over  which  the  surge  in  its  roll  curls  its  white  lip, 
and  by  a  break  in  the  cascading  and  coruscating  foam  of 
the  dashing  and  maddened  breakers  designates  the  narrow 
and  still  pass  between  the  jutting  points  of  the  two  reefs, 
to  the  inner  bosom  of  the  bay.  The  shore  beyond  sweeps 
in  a  green  aslant  for  miles  to  the  northwest,  while  the 
brown  lava-peaks  rise  abruptly  back  of  Honolulu,  flanked 
on  the  southeast  by  the  truncated  cone  of  Diamond  Hill, 
where  once  the  fires  and  smoke  and  associate  noise  and 
lava-streams  disgorged  themselves  in  volcanic  eruptions. 
Now  it  sleeps  in  its  stillness  and  solitude  as  its  rotund  and 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  211 

brown  sides  lie  against  the  horizon,  separated  from  the 
adjacent  peaks,  in  its  further-out  position  in  the  sea.  And 
then  the  valleys  indenting  these  volcanic  hills,  as  they 
stretch  their  deep  ravines  across  the  island,  here  and  there 
develop  their  green  sides,  which  retain  their  rich  and 
verdant  coloring  and  luxuriousness,  under  the  influence  of 
daily  showers,  descending  from  the  misty  clouds  that  hang 
in  their  perpetual  sombre  on  the  highest  peaks  of  the  al- 
most perpendicular  and  lava-battlements  which  inwall 
these  deep  cuts  across  the  mountains.  And  the  sun  is  out, 
in  its  mild,  and  here,  said  to  be  innoxious  beam,  throwing 
his  enchantment  of  smiles  over  this  yet  different  specimen 
of  the  picturesque  from  what  we  have  elsewhere  seen ; 
while  the  delicious  atmosphere  dilates  the  nostrils  of  the 
invalid,  at  least,  with  acceptable  and  never  more  welcome 
and  revivifying  breath.  The  shipping,  including  a  number 
of  whalers  and  vessels  of  lesser  tonage  than  a  frigate,  lie 
in  the  inner  harbor,  hemmed  in  and  protected  seaward  by 
the  coral  reef;  and  the  town  stretches  itself  on  the  plain 
of  volcanic  cinders  and  alluvial  from  the  mountains,  which 
forms  an  extensive  area  between  the  base  of  the  mountain 
and  beach,  superincumbent  on  a  coral  bed. 

I  had  not  intended  going  on  shore  until  the  day  or  two 
succeeding  our  arrival,  being  myself  an  invalid  ;  but  an- 
other death  among  our  crew,  making  the  twenty-seventh 
since  we  left  Tung  Koo  bay,  occurring  in  the  morning,  I 
accompanied  the  body  a  little  before  sunset  to  its  burial- 
place  on  shore.  The  dock  we  found  crowded  with  ex- 
pectant natives,  who  had  learned  from  the  men  who  dug 
the  grave,  that  a  burial  from  the  ship  was  to  take  place. 
There  where  a  hundred  or  more  of  all  ages,  sizes,  and  of 
either  sex,  waiting  the  arrival  of  the  boat.  I  was  glad  at 
so  early  a  moment  to  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  such 
a  promiscuous  assembly  of  the  natives,  exhibiting  so  favor- 
able a  contrast  in  their  dress  and  manners  to  the  Malayan 
population  with  which  we  have  met  in  other  parts  of  our 
cruise.  They  accompanied  the  procession  of  the  mariners 
as  they  bore  their  comrade  to  his  grave,  advancing  through 
a  wide  street  walled  on  either  side  by  a  line  of  parapet 
formed  of  blocks  of  dried  earth,  giving  a  neat  and  regular 
appearance  to  the  street,  while  the  dark  material  exhibits 

45 


212  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  sombre  of  a  greater  age  than  the  formation  of  the  ave- 
nues, through  which  we  passed  to  that  part  of  the  town, 
where  the  grave-yard  is  situated. 

There  was  an  air  of  simplicity  in  the  manners  of  this 
good-natured  people,  which  attracted  my  observation.  Not 
one  unkind  face  was  seen ;  and  here  and  there  among 
the  group  I  marked,  in  the  simple  manner  of  expressing 
their  rude  affection,  several  couples  walking  with  the  hand 
of  one  within  the  other's,  and  all  apparently  enjoying  the 
scene  with  the  natural  curiosity  of  rude  minds,  but  with 
perfectly  respectful  demeanor.  The  grave  was  surround- 
ed, as  the  body  was  lowered  to  its  rest ;  and  while  a  hun- 
dred voices  were  heard  a  moment  before,  a  stillness  per- 
vaded the  whole  group,  so  that  a  whisper  could  have  been 
heard  throughout  their  number,  as  I  removed  my  hat  and 
recited  the  funeral  service  at  the  head  of  another  of  our 
men,  who  first  occupies  his  place  here  among  the  dead, 
only  as  a  forerunner  of  a  number  more  who  will  for  ever 
sleep  in  the  volcanic  dust  of  the  island  we  now  are  visiting. 

The  services  at  the  burial  being  over,  two  strangers  of 
the  foreign  residents  were  introduced  to  me,  one  of  them 
handing  me  a  note  from  an  acquaintance,  whom  I  had  met 
in  Macao,  and  now  assuring  me  of  a  welcome  to  Honolulu. 
"  Rest  assured,"  says  this  kind  and  polite  note,  which  I 
quote  here  as  evidence  of  the  ever  ready  courtesies  and 
hospitality  tendered  by  our  Christian  friends  abroad,  "  I 
can  speak  for  myself  and  my  missionary  friends,  that  our 
hearts  and  houses  are  always  open  to  welcome  the  stran- 
ger, as  well  as  to  sympathize  with  the  distressed.  It  is 
true  we  are  deprived  of  the  elegancies  of  life,  but  we  have 
ever  had  reason  to  rejoice  in  the  belief  that  we  were  in  the 
way  of  duty  marked  out  to  us  by  our  heavenly  Father." 
The  same  note  informed  me  that  a  lady  of  the  mission 
was  acquainted  with  some  of  my  friends  of  New- York, 
and  insisted  with  her  husband  upon  the  right  of  claiming 
me  as  their  guest  during  the  stay  of  our  ships  at  the  island. 

On  returning  to  the  frigate  our  boat  passed  the  John 
Adams,  lying  at  anchor.  She  arrived  some  hours  later 
than  ourselves,  this  morning,  after  a  separation  of  about 
forty  days,  during  which  time  both  ships  have  been  well 
buffeted  by  boisterous  seas.  We  were  glad  to  see  our 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  213 

consort  arriving  in  the  offing,  after  we  had  been  lying  but 
a  few  hours  at  our  moorings. 

Several  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  mission  were  on  board 
the  day  succeeding  our  arrival,  leaving  their  names  for  the 
Commodore,  who  had  gone  ashore  to  call  on  the  king. 
They  left  the  ship  at  an  early  hour  to  visit,  on  their  way 
to  the  shore,  the  John  Adams,  where  they  were  sure  to 
meet  with  a  welcome  reception  from  the  gentlemanly  of- 
ficers of  the  Adams,  who  have  manifested,  in  no  equivo- 
cal manner,  their  due  appreciation  of  the  missionary  char- 
acter in  several  of  the  ports  at  which  we  have  called  on 
our  cruise  in  the  East.  The  name  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bing- 
ham  has  most  frequently  been  before  the  public  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Sandwich  Islands  missions,  and  my  interview 
with  him  to-day  leads  me  to  believe  him  a  devoted,  as  he 
has  long  and  very  meritoriously  exhibited  himself  to  be 
an  unflinching  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  succeeding  day,  Saturday,  I  visited  the  shore, 
making  several  calls  and  dining  at  Mrs.  L/s,  who  had 
very  kindly  sent  me  an  invitation  to  make  her  house  my 
home  during  our  stay  at  this  port ;  but  I  deemed  my  mis- 
sionary friends  to  have  a  prior  claim  upon  me,  and  there- 
fore accepted  a  previous  invitation  to  make  my  home, 
whenever  I  went  on  shore,  at  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.'s. 

Dr.  Ruschenberger's  book  in  relation  to  the  islands  was 
very  naturally  made  the  topic  of  conversation. 

For  my  part,  I  assured  my  lady-host,  that  standing  on 
the  high  peaks  of  the  mountains  back  of  Honolulu,  I 
should  willingly  trust  myself  to  the  care  of  Dr.  Ruschen- 
berger,  to  save  me  from  pitching  headlong  over  the  pre- 
cipice as  I  gazed  on  the  beautiful  sea  in  the  distance  and 
the  island  scenery  about  us ;  but  as  for  Mr.  Stewart,  not 
to  him  should  I  trust  me  in  such  circumstances,  lest  to- 
gether we  should  pitch  down  the  steep,  to  the  breaking  of 
both  our  necks.  Dr.  R.  has  but  little  imagination.  Mr. 
Stewart's  mind  glows  in  its  perceptions  of  the  beautiful 
of  nature.  And  yet  this  does  not  necessarily  make  Mr. 
S.'s  descriptions  less  accurate,  or  Dr.  R.'s  correct.  They 
might  be  both  true  to  nature,  so  far  as  each,  in  his  own 
way  and  with  his  own  eyes,  viewed  them.  But  one  eye 
would  detect  a  light  and  a  shade  in  coloring — a  tint  and 


114  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

convolution  in  a  cloud  ;  a  wave  in  the  undulating  surface 
of  a  field  or  in  the  flexible  bend  of  a  meadow  of  grass, 
and  drink  in  the  harmonies  of  nature  through  the  sight, 
as  the  ear  taketh  in  the  melodies  of  sound  ;  while  the 
other  saw  not,  heard  not,  felt  not.  And  yet  the  more  de- 
licate eye  and  the  more  sensitive  heart,  in  description, 
would  paint,  and  truly,  what  it  actually  did  see,  and  the 
emotions  actually  felt,  in  view  of  the  perception ;  while 
the  other,  seeing  only  one  half  the  first  perceived,  feels, 
accordingly,  only  one  half  as  much,  and  wonders  that  the 
other  should  be  such  an  enthusiast ;  when,  in  fact,  the 
feelings  of  the  first  are  only  in  the  same  ratio  with  his 
perceptions,  as  were  the  other's,  who  saw  with  but  half 
an  eye,  and  consequently  felt  with  half  a  heart. 

But  delivering  my  sentiment,  I  believe,  in  fewer  words 
than  I  have  employed  in  repeating  it,  I  perceived  an 
agreeable  smile  to  wreath  the  lip  of  Mrs.  L.,  which  in- 
duced me  to  add,  "  But  I  have  never  seen  Dr.  R. ;  were 
you  acquainted  with  him  ?" 

"  He  stayed  with  us  when  here,"  was  the  reply ;  "  and 
we  found  him  a  very  agreeable  gentleman,"  continued 
Mrs.  L.,  with  another  of  her  characteristic  and  agreeable 
expressions. 

"  Well,  then,"  I  continued,  "  I  have  no  doubt  but  Dr. 
R.  told  you  that  your  boy"  (a  fine  little  fellow  of  three 
years  of  age,  then  sitting  at  the  table)  "  had  a  very  fine 
head." 

"  Yes,  he  said  so,"  continued  my  lady-host ;  when  we 
continued  to  discuss  Dr.  R.'s  excellencies,  phrenological 
acquisitions,  etc.,  very  much  to  our  own  satisfaction,  no 
doubt,  and  certainly  to  the  agreeable  passing  of  a  half 
hour  in  analysis  of  Dr.  R.'s  merits  as  a  writer. 

But,  in  truth,  I  have  not  read  Dr.  Ruschenberger  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart's  letters,  originated  by  Dr.  R.'s 
work,  and  therefore,  for  the  time  being,  excuse  myself 
from  taking  upon  me  the  duties  of  an  umpire  in  the  case. 

Mrs.  L.'s  situation  is  quite  a  pleasant  one,  in  the  cot- 
tage style,  and  will  be  yet  more  pleasant  when  yet  more 
shrubbery  and  folia  of  taller  trees  cluster  about  it  and 
shade  the  grounds. 

On  Sunday,  agreeably  to  an  invitation  which  I  had 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  215 

presented  to  the  gentleman  of  the  mission,  at  the  request 
of  Commodore  Read,  that  one  of  their  number  should 
officiate  on  board  the  Columbia,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham 
gave  us  a  discourse,  in  which  he  stated  a  fact,  which  ought 
to  thrill  the  heart  of  Christendom  and  paralyze  the  tongue 
of  defamation,  that  about  sixteen  thousand  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  these  islands  have  become  communicants  in  the 
churches,  and  exhibit  evidences  of  sincerity,  as  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ.  Among  this  number  are  most  of 
the  influential  chiefs  of  the  islands.  And  although  the 
nation  is  but  partially  enlightened  in  its  advance  from  the 
savage  state  to  the  civilized,  the  principles  of  the  gospel 
have  become  familiar  to  their  minds  and  feelings ;  and 
the  cases  of  discipline,  regarded  as  puritanically  strict  by 
some  when  associated  with  the  sect  of  Christians  which 
is  established  here,  are  not  more  frequent  than  in  the 
churches  of  the  same  denomination,  in  the  United  States. 
Ten  thousand  of  this  number  have  been  gathered  into  the 
churches,  as  the  fruits  of  the  more  than  unusual  and  in- 
teresting state  of  feeling  on  the  subject  of  religion,  which 
has  pervaded  the  population  of  all  the  islands  during  the 
last  two  years. 

It  was  no  unequivocal  evidence  of  the  change  which 
has  been  effected  in  the  circumstances  and  habits  of  this 
people,  given  us  by  an  amusing  little  incident  which  oc- 
curred this  morning.  In  other  parts,  wherever  we  have 
been,  in  the  East,  the  Sabbath  day  has  been  to  the  people 
generally,  as  any  other  day.  The  Arabian,  the  Hindoo, 
the  Singalese,  the  Malay,  and  the  Chinese,  give  no  consid- 
eration to  the  Christian  Sabbath ;  and  their  tradesmen 
work  at  their  several  employments.  Their  shopkeepers 
deal  in  their  merchandise  on  this  day  as  much  as  on  any 
other  of  the  week ;  and  in  their  engagements  with  the 
European  are  often  unable  to  tell  when  the  Christian's 
Sabbath  comes,  unless  they  are  reminded  of  it  in  view  of 
engagements  they  may  be  making,  and  never  take  it  into 
account  without  being  thus  reminded.  And  the  Roman 
Catholic  is  not,  one  would  think  who  has  observed  their 
customs  abroad,  much  or  at  all  better  in  the  reverence 
due  to  this  holy  day,  who,  while  they  are  supposed  to  re- 
spect the  sacred  day  of  rest,  yet  turn  it  into  a  holiday  for 

45* 


216         A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

amusements  and  good  cheer.  In  Catholic  European 
countries  we  know  that  it  is  the  principal  day  for  frequent- 
ing the  theatres  and  other  places  of  amusement,  par- 
ticularly thrown  open  on  Sunday  for  the  supposed  benefit 
of  the  populace.  And  in  South  America  and  in  the  East 
I  have  seen  the  Sabbath  day,  which  terminated  the  gala- 
season  of  some  favorite  saint,  devoted  to  the  pomp  of 
parade,  and  concluded  by  an  exhibition  of  fireworks — the 
discharge  of  sky-rockets  and  crackers — for  the  amusement 
and  amid  the  carousal  of  the  mob  in  front  of  the  temple- 
gates. 

It  was  a  delightful  contrast,  then,  this  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, which  was  presented  to  our  ship,  as  she  slept  in  her 
loneliness  and  quiet  on  the  bosom  of  these  waters,  amid 
the  calm  and  the  rest  of  a  Sabbath-day  morning.  Not 
one  native  boat  was  alongside,  and  a  stillness  pervaded, 
where  heretofore,  each  Sunday  morning  we  have  been  in 
the  ports  of  the  East,  the  chatter  of  a  hundred  native 
voices  has  greeted  the  ear. 

Our  market-boat,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  shore, 
ere  long  arrived  alongside,  and  before  I  had  left  my  room, 
I  heard  a  murmur  of  displeasure  about  "  no  milk  having 
been  procured."  As  my  boy  called  me  to  breakfast, 
"Smith,"  I  asked,  "have  you  gotten  no  milk  this  morning?" 
"  No  milk,  sir,  this  morning — the  missionaries  will  not  let 
it  come  off." 

"  The  missionaries,  dunce  !"  I  exclaimed,  with  a  half- 
suppressed  smile,  "  what  have  the  missionaries  to  do  with 
it?" 

"  Don't  know,  sir,  but  they  say  the  missionaries" 

Here  my  boy  seemed  to  perceive  the  ridiculousness  of  the 
complaint  against  the  missionaries,  which,  if  true,  the  fact 
told  volumes  in  their  favor,  of  the  happy  influence  they 
had  brought  to  bear  upon  the  public  sentiment  of  this  com- 
munity, and  he  left  his  sentence  unfinished. 

The  subject  was  a  matter  of  remark  at  the  table  ;  and 
while  it  was  proposed,  either  in  ill-will  or  sport,  that  a 
boat  should  be  ordered  off  from  the  shore,  it  was  conceded 
that  things  were  in  fact  as  they  should  be,  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  that  the  influence  of  Christian  principles  here  was 
not  only  holy,  but  truly  American,  in  contrast  with  scenes 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

that  have  attended  us  during  our  whole  course,  since  we 
left  our  native  land.  And  if  there  were  no  other  consid- 
eration than  that  of  preserving  a  striking  and  beautiful  na- 
tional characteristic,  the  American  should  ever  be  an  ad- 
vocate for  a  quiet,  restful,  Christian  Sabbath. 

Our  steward  had  relied  on  the  shore-boats  for  milk,  but 
such  has  been,  and  is,  the  influence  of  the  missionary  ac- 
tion at  this  island,  that  no  boats  are  seen  moving  from  the 
shore  on  the  Sabbath  morning,  or  to  it,  save  from  the 
ships,  for  attendance  of  religious  services  at  the  seamen's 
chapel. 

But  not  only  is  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  here 
more  purely  American,  as  well  as  Christian,  than  we  have 
found  it  elsewhere  since  we  left  the  United  States ;  it  is 
also  true  that  other  things  harmonize  with  the  un  per  verted 
tastes  of  a  citizen  of  the  land  of  our  homes.  The  very 
beef,  turkeys  and  other  poultry,  potatoes  and  other  vegeta- 
bles, taste  like  the  same  articles  we  have  eaten  in  the 
United  States.  All  perceive  this,  and  relish  it  accordingly, 
in  contrast  with  the  less  agreeably  flavored  articles  pro- 
cured in  the  Indies.  Even  for  these  four  days,  during 
which  we  have  been  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  we  have 
thus  been  often  and  agreeably  carried  back  in  our  memo- 
ries to  the  homes  of  our  infancy. 

On  Monday  I  took  up  my  residence  on  shore  with  my 
stranger-friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dimond,  to  the  neglect  of 
invitations  from  others  of  the  foreign  residents,  to  whom 
my  acknowledgments  are  due,  that  I  might  be  more  im- 
mediately in  the  neighborhood  and  circle  of  the  missiona- 
ry families. 

The  residences  of  the  missionaries  are  generally  two- 
story  dwellings,  built  of  coral-rock,  with  narrow  piazzas 
in  front.  The  premises  had  been  yet  more  pleasant  had 
the  piazzas  been  wider,  and  the  roofs  of  the  buildings  ex- 
tended proportionally,  for  yielding  an  acceptable  shade  in 
a  warm  climate.  All  the  houses  of  the  mission  families 
have  more  or  less  shrubbery  in  their  yards,  and  shade, 
from  the  very  beautiful  and  gaudy  mimosa,  as  I  took  the 
plant  to  be,  down  to  the  favorite  little  rosa  vincula,  which 
flourishes  luxuriantly  here,  and  without  an  abundance  of 
water,  which  is  a  consideration,  as  the  soil  is  of  such  a 


218  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

nature,  in  its  capacity  for  absorption  of  moisture,  that  it 
makes  the  irrigation  of  plants  even  of  a  small  plot  of 
ground  a  considerable  labor,  with  the  few  conveniences 
and  water  advantages  enjoyed  for  the  purpose. 

The  ladies  of  the  mission  deserve  credit  for  the  beauti- 
fying of  the  grounds  about  their  houses  so  far  as  they  have 
fone,  as  I  am  informed  that  the  praise  of  what  has  been 
one  is  principally  due  to  them ;  and  it  is  certainly  a 
thought  worthy  of  consideration,  that  the  lots  possessed  by 
the  mission  should  be  thus  improved  and  adorned  by  the 
beauties  of  nature, — tending,  as  such  improvements  do,  to 
the  health  of  a  family  of  children,  the  refinement  of  their 
feelings,  and  the  cultivation  of  their  tastes.  It  is  said  that 
flowers  about  the  hut  of  a  savage  is  a  sure  evidence  that 
there  is  some  advance  of  civilization  within,  beyond  that 
of  others  of  the  tribe.  And  the  garland  of  ferns  and  the 
beetel  flower,  and  other  green  and  flowery  chaplets  that 
are  here  sometimes  seen  to  wreath  the  tawny  brow  of  the 
lowest  of  these  Sandwich  Islanders,  while  it  may  serve  to 
render  the  deficit  costume  of  the  poorer  native  yet  more 
glaring  and  laughable  to  the  unphilosophic  eye,  yet  de- 
clares that  the  least  civilized  among  these  people  have  ad- 
vanced one  step  on  the  scale  of  refinement  in  feeling  and 
of  elevation  in  social  life.  And  when  each  native  shall 
have  a  small  bed  of  flowers,  or  a  single  flower-pot  cher- 
ishing a  choice  shrub  at  the  door  of  his  thatched  hut,  he 
will  exhibit  proof  of  having  taken  an  additional  step  in 
the  path  of  civilization  and  refinement  of  feeling,  harmo- 
nizing with  the  legitimate  tendencies  of  Christian  princi- 
ples. And  thus  should  the  native  be  encouraged  to  have 
his  little  border  of  the  rosa  vincula  as  well  as  his  larger 
patch  of  kalo. 

From  my  window  at  Mr.  D.'s  the  Columbia  is  seen 
lying  in  full  view,  and  near  enough  for  her  colors  to  be 
designated  by  the  naked  eye,  while  between  her  anchorage 
in  the  roads  and  the  shore  the  surf  breaks  in  its  eternal 
voice  and  monotony,  and  long  line  of  untarnished  white. 
And  in  the  heavy  swell  of  the  open  roadstead,  even  at  this 
distance,  the  frigate  is  sometimes  seen  to  lie  in  a  state  of 
unrest,  as  her  trucks  mark  their  curve  lines  on  the  azure 
above  them. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  219 

It  is  a  more  interesting  view,  however,  to  see,  from  my 
window,  the  crowds  of  the  natives  on  their  way  to  the  ear- 
ly morning  meeting,  to  which  the  church  bell  has  summoned 
them,  at  the  break  of  day.  One  of  the  churches  is  a  short 
distance  beyond  the  residence  of  Mr.  D.,  and  my  window 
commands  it,  with  the  intervening  area.  The  building 
itself  is  an  immense  thing  for  the  space  it  covers,  con- 
structed of  upright  poles  and  cross-ribs,  to  which  thatch- 
work  of  grass  is  attached  externally,  of  which  material  the 
roof  is  likewise  composed.  This  building  inwalls  an  area 
of  twelve  thousand  square  feet,  and  allowing  three  square 
feet  for  each  attendant,  will  give  seats  for  four  thousand 
natives,  as  they  place  themselves  upon  their  mats,  which 
constitute  the  floor.  The  introduction  of  seats  in  different 
parts  of  the  building  diminishes  the  capacity  of  the  build- 
ing by  some  few  hundreds.  A  number  of  doors  form  the 
entrances  into  this  spacious  area,  which  also  serve  in  this 
mild  climate  for  lighting  the  building.  Thither,  for  morn- 
ing prayers,  the  natives  gather  in  large  numbers  ere  the 
sun  has  yet  come  up  over  the  high  peaks  of  the  island- 
mountains,  though  he  may  be  shining  on  their  eastern 
ranges,  and  on  the  ocean  beyond  them.  And  here  too, 
during  this  week,  in  attendance  on  "  a  protracted  meet- 
ing," the  natives  are  seen  gathering  twice  at  other  hours 
of  the  day.  And  when  the  services  are  over,  they  stream, 
in  vast  numbers,  from  every  door  of  the  spacious  building, 
in  order  and  propriety,  returning  to  their  homes.  No 
noise,  or  the  loud  laugh  is  heard,  but  stillness  and  a  gentle 
demeanor,  not  often  so  universal  in  a  higher  state  of  civil- 
ization, prevail,  as  the  crowd  floats  along  the  streets  to 
their  humble  residences.  , 

At  dinner  I  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  who  has  ac- 
cepted the  appointment  of  interpreter  to  the  king  and  in- 
structer  of  the  adult  chiefs. 

On  a  late  visit  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Richards  con- 
veyed proposals  from  the  king  and  his  chiefs,  for  some 
Christian  and  philanthropic  member  of  the  bar  to  visit  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  instruction  in 
political  economy  and  jurisprudence,  and  the  general  sci- 
ence of  law,  for  the  benefit  of  the  rulers  of  this  nation,  and 
for  the  better  organization  of  its  laws  and  development  of 


220  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

its  resources.  Mr.  Richards  found  it  impossible,  at  the 
time,  to  procure  such  a  person,  to  the  regret  of  the  mission 
and  the  disappointment  of  the  chiefs.  But,  the  chiefs  said 
on  further  consideration,  "  we  are  glad  that  you  have  been 
unsuccessful  in  your  application.  It  would  have  taken 
such  a  person,  had  you  found  one,  some  years  to  acquire 
such  a  knowledge  of  our  language,  as  would  enable  us  to 
understand  him.  But  you  already  have  a  knowledge  of 
the  language,  and  we  can  converse  with  you  and  under- 
stand you  as  one  of  our  own  number.  You,  therefore,  must 
take  this  duty  upon  yourself,  and  we  will  support  you." 

This  was  an  entirely  unexpected  proposition  to  Mr.  R., 
from  the  chiefs ;  and  not  once  dreaming  of  entering  upon 
such  a  task,  he  had  brought  no  works  with  him  which  he 
might  need  for  this  purpose  from  the  United  States ;  and 
besides,  it  being  contrary  to  the  instructions  of  the  Board 
of  missions,  that  their  missionaries  should  connect  them- 
selves at  all  with  any  government,  near  which  they  might 
reside,  Mr.  R.  still  hesitated.  But  the  subject  being  one 
of  great  importance  at  this  particular  point  of  the  nation's 
circumstances,  in  their  advance  from  the  savage  state  to 
the  civilized,  when  the  chiefs  have  felt  the  influences  of 
Christianity,  and  mostly  become  conscientious  in  their  de- 
sires of  acting  right  and  of  advancing  in  civilization  as 
well  as  in  morals,  they  need  the  light  they  now  have  not, 
to  inform  their  judgments,  and  for  the  suggestion  of  cor- 
rect principles,  to  enable  them  to  mature  those  plans  which 
shall  most  rapidly  and  successfully  advance  the  nation  in 
civilization,  and  develop,  for  national  and  individual  pros- 
perity, the  resources  of  the  island. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  Mr.  R.  was  finally  in- 
duced to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  the  chiefs ;  and  feeling 
the  embarrassment  that  the  instructions  of  the  Board  to 
their  missionaries  to  abstain  from  all  interference  with  the 
affairs  of  the  government  might  occasion  him,  or  that  he 
might  be  deemed  as  transgressing  the  letter  of  these  in- 
structions by  accepting  the  appointment,  he  sent  in  his 
resignation  to  the  Board  on  entering  upon  the  duties  of 
his  station.  His  connection  therefore  with  the  Board  of 
missions  has  ceased,  while  his  sympathies  necessarily  con- 
tinue with  the  missionaries  ;  and  with  them,  in  his  present 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  221 

situation,  is  he  endeavoring  to  advance  the  people  to  the 
possession  of  those  institutions  which  characterize  a  Chris- 
tian and  civilized  nation.  His  responsibility  for  his  further 
action  is  now  to  the  chiefs,  to  his  own  country  at  home, 
and  to  his  God.  And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  will  have 
the  independence,  decision  of  character,  and  the  wisdom 
to  act  as  the  present  necessities  of  the  people  or  any 
unforeseen  circumstance  of  the  nation  may  require.  I 
consider  Mr.  Richards  a  gentleman  well  qualified  for  the 
position  he  occupies.  His  amiableness  will  secure  his  pop- 
ularity with  the  chiefs  ;  his  piety,  a  conscientious  course  ; 
and  his  familiarity  with  the  national  circumstances,  his 
aptness  to  acquire  from  books  the  principles  applicable  to 
a  nation's  greatest  prosperity,  together  with  his  practical 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  motives 
that  will  most  successfully  influence  them,  will  all  enable 
him  at  once  to  comprehend  the  ground  upon  which  he 
stands — the  obstacles  in  the  way — the  object  to  be  aimed 
at — and  the  most  successful  means  for  securing  it. 

It  was  my  privilege,  after  the  period  of  which  I  am  now 
speaking,  to  have  many  conversations  with  Mr.  R.  And 
in  this  connection,  although  I  have  as  yet  but  simply  men- 
tioned the  KING  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  with  whom  I 
afterwards  frequently  met  on  occasions  yet  to  be  described, 
I  choose  to  introduce  the  following  note,  sent  to  his  ma- 
jesty just  previous  to  our  leaving  his  islands ;  and  after  I 
had  enjoyed  ample  opportunity  of  seeing  and  becoming  in- 
terested in  the  action  here  put  forth  by  the  missionaries  for 
the  Christian  and  intellectual  improvement  of  his  subjects. 

HONOLULU,  October  18th,  1839. 
To  His  Majesty  Kammahamaha  III. 

The  American  people  have  heard  much  of  the  king, 
chiefs,  and  people  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It  is  a  high 
gratification  to  the  writer  that  he  now  has  the  pleasure  of 
visiting  your  majesty's  possessions,  and  to  mark  the  ad- 
vance of  institutions  of  which  he  has  heard  much  and  with 
which  he  has  not  been  disappointed,  by  his  inspection  of 
them  since  his  arrival  at  this  place. 

Your  majesty  will  believe  me  when  I  assure  you  that, 
at  home,  the  missionaries  to  your  possessions  have  the  con- 


222  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

fidence  of  the  American  nation ;  and  that  the  American 
government  gives  your  majesty  its  cordial  wishes  for  the 
advance  of  every  valuable  institution  tending  to  the  pro- 
motion of  intelligence,  morals,  and  the  Christian  religion 
among  your  subjects.  That  I  may  evince  to  your  ma- 
jesty my  own  feelings  of  interest,  I  herewith  beg  you  to 
accept  "  Kent's  Commentaries,"  a  work  in  four  volumes, 
which  contain  the  collected  knowledge  of  one  of  our 
greatest  men  and  most  able  jurists,  who  has,  for  his  learn- 
ing and  his  worth,  the  confidence  and  admiration  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  who  I  am  happy  to  learn  has 
accepted  the  appointment  as  your  majesty's  interpreter, 
will  find  these  volumes  of  great  service  in  illustrating 
the  great  and  general  principles  of  the  laws  of  civilized 
nations  ;  and  be  enabled,  so  far  as  they  may  be  applicable 
in  forming  the  jurisprudence  of  your  majesty's  government, 
to  present  to  your  majesty's  consideration  the  interesting 
subjects  on  which  these  volumes  treat. 

Most  assuredly  and  cordially,  and  with  great  respect, 
Your  friend, 

FITCH  W.  TAYLOR, 
Chaplain  U.  S.  frigate  Columbia. 

P.  S.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  having  heard  that  Mr. 
Richards  has  just  received  a  set  of  "  Kent's  Commenta- 
ries,"* begs  leave  to  substitute  a  set  of  English  History, 
in  nine  volumes,  in  the  place  of  the  Commentaries,  which 
he  proposed  to  send  as  evidence  of  the  assured  interest  he 
takes  in  his  majesty's  happiness,  and  the  mental  and  reli- 
gious welfare  of  his  majesty's  people 

Besides  the  large  building  already  described,  which 
occupies  the  southern  end  of  the  town  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  missionary  residences,  there  is  a  newer  and 
better  edifice,  of  equal"  dimensions,  with  neat  dobie  walls 
and  glazed  windows  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town, 

*  By  an  arrival  of  a  vessel  from  the  U.  S.  the  day  after  writing 
the  preceding  letter.  The  same  vessel  brought  an  account  of  the 
Board's  acceptance  of  Mr.  R.'s  resignation  as  a  member  of  the  mis- 
sion. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  223 

where  a  congregation  usually  gather  at  the  same  hours  as 
at  the  other.  This  congregation  is  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Smith — the  other  is  under  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham.  The  usual  number  of  the  con- 
gregations attending  at  these  two  native  churches,  at  the 
same  hour,  varies  from  twenty-five  hundred  to  three  thou- 
sand each. 

A  new  church  is  being  erected  for  Mr.  Bingham's 
congregation,  on  a  large  scale,  and  of  durable  materials. 
The  walls  of  heavy  blocks  of  coral  rock  are  already  car- 
ried up  some  twenty  feet  or  more.  The  building  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty-four  feet  by  seventy-eight,  and  with  gal- 
leries will  accommodate  three  to  four  thousand  people. 
It  is  no  larger  than  is  desirable  for  the  congregation  ;  and 
when  finished  will  be  a  building  very  creditable  to  the 
place,  and  do  honor  to  this  interesting  island-nation,  now 
in  its  transition  state  from  barbarism  to  civilized  life.  And 
few  things  will  tend  more  rapidly  to  advance  the  people 
on  the  scale  of  civilization  than  such  works,  while  they 
add  permanency  to  the  Christian  institutions  which  they 
have  adopted  among  them.  For  the  erection  of  this 
building,  the  king  subscribed  three  thousand  dollars,  and 
the  chiefs  and  people  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  more. 
The  materials  for  building  this  spacious  edifice  are  brought 
from  a  coral  formation,  where  the  blocks  are  quarried. 
At  first  it  was  proposed  by  the  chiefs  that  these  blocks 
should  be  conveyed  as  burdens  generally  are,  or  have 
been,  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  natives,  with  the  simple 
use  of  the  pole.  But  a  simple  invention  of  wheels,  and 
an  experiment  with  the  assistance  of  a  yoke  of  oxen  at- 
tended by  a  boy,  soon  convinced  the  natives  that  a  simple 
dray  would  save  them  the  labor  of  a  thousand  men. 
And  it  is  thus  that  this  people  are  daily  acquiring  the 
knowledge  necessary  for  the  advance  of  a  community  in 
all  improvements,  and  to  appreciate  the  power  of  that 
knowledge.  And  when  this  building  shall  have  been 
completed,  it  will  have  shown  the  king  and  chiefs,  and 
the  Hawaiian  people,  that  they  have  resources  that  they 
never  dreamed  of;  and  advance  them  in  self-possession 
and  dignity  of  character  in  proportion  to  this  new  con- 
sciousness of  their  capabilities  and  power. 

46 


224  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

The  progress  in  the  erection  of  this  building  has  been 
interrupted  by  a  late  incident  (the  visit  of  the  French  fri- 
gate 1'Artemise)  at  this  place,  which  will  receive  the  ani- 
madversion, and  I  trust  just  censure,  of  the  writer,  in  the 
sequel  of  this  sketch  of  his  visit  to  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

The  site  for  this  church  edifice  is  a  good  one,  though 
occupying  the  plain  ;  and  the  proportions  of  the  structure 
are  in  keeping.  I  should  have  altered  some  particulars 
in  the  model,  but  it  is  interesting  as  it  now  is,  as  showing 
its  paternity.  The  New  Englander  will  at  once  recognise 
its  origin,  in  its  walls  broken  by  double  rows  of  small 
windows,  instead  of  the  continuous  Gothic  or  elongated 
Corinthian.  The  additional  strength  gained,  and  the  char- 
acteristic language  of  its  model,  would  at  once  prevent 
the  suggestion  of  change,  and  at  the  same  time  render 
undesirable  any  alteration  in  the  proportions  of  the  inter- 
esting fabric. 

I  happened  in  to  the  native  church,  in  the  afternoon. 
What  a  scene  was  that  which  I  witnessed !  I  never 
dreamed  of  seeing  such,  though  I  had  read  and  thought 
much  of  missions,  and  seen  much  on  our  cruise  around 
the  world.  But  here  were  before  me  near  two  thousand 
worshipping  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  their  own  native 
building,  which  their  own  hands  had  erected  and  thatched. 
It  was  one  of  the  native  prayer-meetings  of  the  two  churches, 
during  the  session  of  a  conference  or  protracted  meeting 
of  this  week.  A  native  prayed,  reverently,  in  the  soft 
and  expressive  language  of  the  people,  with  a  measured 
intonation,  and  sometimes  with  a  repetition  of  words  that 
struck  the  ear  with  the  agreeableness  of  rhythm.  A  hymn 
was  sung.  A  number,  twelve  or  more,  of  the  female  na- 
tives were  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  as  many  of  the  males, 
constituting  together  a  choir,  on  the  level  of  the  congre- 
gation, without  the  usual  separation  and  formalities.  Their 
singing  was  agreeable,  and  the  performance  creditable. 
Having  familiarized  myself  with  the  pronunciation  of  the 
Hawaiian  language,  I  joined  in  the  tune.  A  second  prayer 
was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bingham,  in  the  native  lan- 
guage. Having  turned  a  leaf  that  I  might  remember  the 
hymn  that  was  sung,  I  left  the  church  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  prayer.  I  came  to  my  room,  not  far  distant  from 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  225 

the  church,  to  muse  in  memory  of  the  scene  I  had  left. 
What  hath  not  God  done  !  A  nation  become  a  religious 
people,  who  were  but  late  the  worshippers  of  idols  and 
the  advocates  of  human  sacrifices — and  before  me  I  had 
just  seen  nearly  two  thousand  of  them  worshipping  the 
God  of  Christians.  Will  that  God  forsake  them,  in  their 
attempts  to  please  him,  however  rude  may  be  their  first 
essays  towards  attainments  in  knowledge  and  reformation 
in  morals  ?  I  think  he  will  not. 

In  the  evening  I  took  tea  with  Mrs.  Deill,  the  lady  of 
the  seamen's  chaplain,  at  the  port  of  Honolulu. 

The  succeeding  morning  I  called  with  Mrs.  D.  on  the 
families  of  the  English  and  French  consuls.  Mrs.  Dudoit, 
the  lady  of  the  French  consul,  is  deemed  among  the  pret- 
tiest of  the  foreign  residents  here,  and  is  said  to  be  as 
amiable  as  pretty  ;  and  Miss  C.,  the  sprightly  daughter  of 
the  English  consul,  is  almost  the  only  unmarried  young 
lady  among  the  fair  exotics  of  Honolulu,  and  has  been  but 
a  short  time  in  the  island  from  "  home." 

MARRIAGE    AT    HONOLULU. 

Thursday  evening  was  an  era  in  the  little  world  of  the 
foreign  residents,  I  suppose,  at  least  in  that  part  of  it  over 
which  the  nuptial  divinities  claim  empire.  A  marriage  in 
Honolulu  I  should  think  an  unfrequent  occurrence  among 
the  foreign  population.  The  wedding  party,  then,  of  Mrs. 
Little,  now  Mrs.  Hooper,  became  an  interesting  incident, 
and  the  parties  most  particularly  concerned  seem  to  have 
timed  the  period  of  their  union  with  some  reference  to  the 
visit  of  our  squadron,  which  we  certainly  should  appreciate 
as  a  compliment.  A  few  particular  friends,  the  American 
consul,  and  Captain  Wyman  of  the  John  Adams,  were 
present  at  the  ceremony,  performed  by  the  chaplain  of  the 
squadron.  Nearly  all  the  foreign  residents,  soon  after, 
were  in  the  rooms.  I  was  particularly  pleased  with  the 
entrance  of  the  governor  of  the  island,  who  advanced  to 
the  bride  and  gave  her  his  hand,  and  then,  successively,  to 
the  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  room,  and  with  an 
ease  and  a  grace  that  was  not  surpassed  by  the  entree  of 
any  gentleman  during  the  evening.  There  may  have  been 


226  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  smallest  spice  imaginable  of  the  hauteur  militaire  in  his 
movement,  which  however  did  not  diminish  his  ease,  but 
in  his  circumstances  of  office  and  rank,  and  being  the  only 
native  present  in  the  crowd  of  foreigners,  with  every  eye 
for  a  moment  fixed  upon  him,  did  him  credit.  The  king 
was  absent,  on  the  plea  of  illness.  The  governor  left 
the  rooms  early,  and  Commodore  Read,  who  is  doing  him- 
self credit  at  these  islands,  also  soon  disappeared,  with 
the  considerate  dignity  of  his  high  command  ;  while  the 
party  seemed  to  arrange  themselves  in  groups  of  easy 
guests,  though,  as  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  in  many 
parties,  there  may  have  been  too  much  clustering  of  the 
sexes  into  their  separate  classes. 

The  American  Consul  introduced  the  officers  of  the 
squadron  ;  and  with  a  degree  of  home  feeling  and  famil- 
iarity, did  credit  to  himself  and  the  position  he  holds.  Ere 
long  he  was  absent,  for  attention  to  his  ill  family. 

The  bride,  an  interesting  young  widow  lady,  was  pret- 
ty, as  all  brides  are,  and  more  than  what  is  true  of  all 
other  brides,  in  this  instance,  is  a  tasteful  and  clever  wo- 
man. 

The  succeeding  evening  I  took  tea  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smith.  Most  of  the  missionary  families  were  present  dur- 
ing the  evening.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bishop,  from  Ewa,  ar- 
rived to-day,  from  whom  I  had  previously  received  a  let- 
ter. He  was  my  early  instructor  in  the  academy  at  Lau- 
renceville,  N.  J.  He  is  a  worthy  man,  well  informed,  and 
has  improved  in  interest,  though  here  comparatively  iso- 
lated. There  is  sterling  worth  in  intellect  and  feeling  in 
his  character.  The  evening  was  spent  in  agreeable  con- 
versation. Scientific  subjects  are  not  unfamiliar  to  the 
members  of  the  mission,  as  well  as  the  religious  and  the 
intellectual  of  other  departments.  Several  of  the  mission- 
ary ladies  here  have  handsome  collections  of  shells,  and 
specimens  in  mineralogy  and  geology,  with  lavas  and  cu- 
riosities associated  with  the  islands  of  the  Pacific.  And 
though  there  is  but  very  little  of  the  "  azure  hose  or  blue 
stocking  club"  discernible  in  the  conversation  of  these 
women,  occasionally  they  may  venture  to  hint  the  scien- 
tific name  of  some  shell,  when  exhibited  as  'a  beautiful  spe- 
cimen in  conchology.  Some  of  them  show  themselves 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  227 

creditably  familiar  with  several  branches  in  the  natural 
sciences ;  and  I  have  been  told,  otherwise  I  should  not  have 
learned  it  from  the  retiring  manners  of  the  lady  in  ques- 
tion, that  one  of  their  number,  at  least,  is  familiar  with 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew. 

Mrs.  S.,  my  interesting  hostess  of  the  evening,  showed 
me  some  pretty  impressions  of  plants  taken  by  herself, 
and  an  orange  cowry,  a  shell  I  have  never  before  seen, 
but  have  made  many  and  unsuccessful  inquiries  for. 

The  residence  of  this  missionary  family  is  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  town  near  the  church  of  the  second  congrega- 
tion, of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  S.  is  pastor.  It  is  a  very  plea- 
sant situation,  in  full  view  of  the  luxuriant  and  beautiful 
valley,  which  stretches  quite  across  the  island,  terminating 
at  the  further  end,  by  the  abrupt  and  storied  precipice  of 
the  Pari.  Mrs.  S.,  with  her  fine  susceptibilities  to  the  beau- 
tiful in  nature,  appreciates  and  enjoys  the  view,  and  de- 
scribes it  with  correspondent  feelings.  She  would  wonder 
that  any  eye  could  behold  it  and  not  kindle  equally  with 
her  own. 

The  social  interview  was  terminated  by  singing,  prayer, 
and  a  few  remarks  naturally  awakened  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  meeting.  It  was  not  the  worship  of  mere 
ceremony.  It  was  the  expression  of  mutual  sympathies, 
at  a  welcome  and  social  moment,  when  hearts  blended 
their  feelings  in  a  thank-offering  of  worship  to  the  God  who 
has  made  us  religious,  and  intellectual,  and  social  beings. 

The  more  disinterested,  and  the  more  worthy,  and  the 
more  persecuted  does  this  band  of  benevolent  men  and 
women  appear  to  me,  the  more  I  hear,  and  learn,  and  see 
of  them. 

A    SABBATH    AT    HONOLULU. 

Sunday,  the  succeeding  day  but  one,  and  the  only  Sabr 
bath  I  spent  on  shore  at  Honolulu,  may  never  be  forgot 
ten  by  me.  I  preached  twice  in  the  seamen's  chapel  to 
attentive  congregations.  The  foreign  residents  and  the 
missionaries  attend  the  services  of  the  chapel — the  native 
services  being  so  arranged  by  the  missionaries  as  to  admit 
of  it.  But  the  service  the  most  peculiar,  and  which  will 

46* 


228  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

leave  the  longest  impression  upon  myself,  was  the  meeting 
I  attended  in  the  large  church  of  the  natives.  The  spa- 
cious building  was  filled  when  I  reached  the  house.  I 
walked  through  a  long  range  of  these  Hawaiians,  as  I  as- 
cended from  the  door,  crowded  thick  upon  the  mats  and 
filling  the  whole  area,  or  were  arranged  upon  their  seats 
occupying  the  more  central  part  of  the  building.  As  I 
entered  the  pulpit,  already  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bing- 
ham  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  I  looked  over  a  congre- 
gation of  near  three  thousand  of  these  worshipping  island- 
ers. What  a  scene  was  this  for  a  Christian  to  contem- 
plate in  a  foreign  land,  where  the  same  people  a  few  years 
before  were  a  heathen  and  a  savage  nation  !  And  before 
me,  now,  were  some  who  had  witnessed,  and  one,  at  least, 
who  had  been  the  cause  of  human  sacrifices,  to  propitiate 
and  atone  for  a  broken  tabu,  which  human  blood  alone 
could  satisfy.  A  hymn  was  sung  ;  after  which  I  gave  the 
congregation  an  address,  which  was  interpreted,  sentence 
by  sentence,  with  such  facility  by  Mr.  Bingham,  that  there 
seemed  but  a  little  break  in  the  continuance  of  the  discourse. 
It  was  still  throughout  the  house.  Attention  was  arrested, 
and  held.  I  repeat  not  here  even  the  substance  of  the  ad- 
dress, but  I  assured  the  islanders  that  it  was  happiness  for 
a  stranger,  from  a  far  land,  to  witness  them  worshipping  the 
same  God  he  worshipped — the  same  Redeemer — the  same 
sanctifying  Spirit.  "  Their  friends,  the  missionaries,"  I 
continued,  '•'  who  were  also  our  friends,  had  told  us  much 
in  their  letters  sent  from  the  islands,  but  they  had  not  said 
all  that  I,  that  day,  beheld  before  me.  In  America,  they 
prayed  for  the  Hawaiians.  They  prayed  for  the  missiona- 
ries among  them.  The  missionaries  had  left  their  homes, 
and  friends,  and  many  comforts  for  long  years  ;  and  we, 
who  in  our  ships  have  been  absent  from  our  homes,  which 
are  in  the  same  land  they  left,  though  but  for  one  year  and 
a  half,  yet  feel  how  dear  that  home  is  to  us,  and  therefore 
can  estimate  how  much  these  our  missionary  friends  have 
been  willing  to  leave  for  the  love  of  Christ,  to  spend  a  life- 
time of  labor  among  you.  In  America,  therefore,  we  give 
them  our  prayers — we  give  them  our  Christian  love — we 
give  them  our  confidence — we  give  them,  sometimes, 
when  we  think  of  them  so  far  away,  our  tears.  But  we 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  229 

also  are  happy  that  they  are  among  you,  doing  their  duty 
where  they  think  God  has  directed  them  to  come.  Will 
you  not,  therefore,  more  than  ever,  listen  to  their  words  ? 
Will  you  not  be  more  grateful  that  they  have  told  you 
of  the  immortal  soul — the  thing  within  us  which  thinks, 
and  loves,  and  is  happy,  or  is  sad,  and  wishes  to  be  happy 
still  and  for  ever,  when  the  body  shall  have  gone  back  to 
its  dust?  Hawaiians,  these  missionaries  have  brought  you 
things  worth  more  than  gold — more  than  gems — more 
than  silver  dollars — more  than  pearls — they  have  told  you 
how  to  save  for  ever  this  immortal  pearl  within  you  ;  and 
how,  millions  of  years  hence,  if  Christians,  ye  shall  live 
on  and  be  happy  with  the  undying  saints  in  heaven,  where 
God  shall  give  to  them  his  friendship  as  he  gives  it  to  his 
angels.  Will  ye  not  then  hear  them  ? 

"  I  am  glad  that  I  can  talk  with  you,  through  my  friend, 
though  I  do  not  understand  your  language.  But  I  must  not 
talk  longer  with  you.  Yet  would  I  ask  of  you,  who  are 
professors  of  religion,  will  you  give  me  your  prayers? 
Our  ships  will  soon  again  leave  you,  as  we  go  on  our  way 
around  the  world  to  our  homes.  We  came  not  to  disturb 
you.  We  came  to  approve  of  your  religious  worship,  and 
to  tell  you  so.  And  when  I  reach  America,  I  shall  tell  the 
Christians  there  that  I  have  met  those  who  love  God  among 
the  Hawaiians — that  I  have  heard  them  pray  to  our  God 
— sing  in  our  own  hymns  and  tunes — and  that  I  have  shed 
my  tears  while  I  have  beheld  the  sight,  and  thanked  God 
for  permitting  me  to  behold  it.  I  shall  never  be  with  you 
again.  Christian  Hawaiians,  through  this  house  !  here  in 
your  temple  I  shall  not  meet  you  again,  but  hope  to  meet 
you  in  heaven.  Farewell !  But  when  I  shall  have  reach- 
ed America,  I  will  not  forget  you.  I  will  not  forget  how 
I  have  heard  you  pray,  sing,  and  worship.  I  will  not  for- 
get your  green  valleys — your  home  in  the  islands  in  the 
seas.  I  will  not  forget  these  missionary  friends ;  but  when 
the  sun  wakes  up  over  the  hills,  and  when  it  goes  down 
in  the  ocean,  I  will  pray  for  them  and  for  you.  Hawaii- 
ans, farewell !  Hold  fast  the  religion  you  love.  Let  a 
world,  if  it  will,  rage.  Still  hold  ye  on  to  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  world  will  soon  crumble  to  nothing. 
These  mountains  and  this  ocean  shall  soon  be  burned  up, 


230          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  then  you  will  want  the  friendship  of  Christ.  Hold 
on,  then,  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ !  And  when  hea- 
ven and  earth  pass  away,  you  shall  find  Him  to  be  to  you 
more  than  an  elder  brother — your  Redeemer,  and  your 
all.  Hawaiians,  farewell  !" 

I  offer  no  apology  for  introducing  this  brief  sketch  of 
part  of  the  address  alluded  to,  in  the  form  I  here  present 
it,  and  in  which,  amid  the  circumstances  described,  it  was 
delivered.  It  will  more  naturally  paint  the  scene  that  was 
presented  before  me,  than  otherwise  could  be  done.  When 
I  had  ended  my  address,  Mr.  Richards  spoke  briefly  and 
feelingly  to  the  congregation.  A  hymn  was  then  sung,  in 
a  melody  that  could  not  but  touch  the  heart  of  him,  with 
any  feeling,  who  for  the  first  time  looked  on  such  a  scene 
as  this.  And  while  my  own  was  melting,  I  thought  if  ever 
there  were  a  just  cause  for  indignation,  it  was  while  hear- 
ing flippant  man,  as  sometimes  he  has  been  heard,  decry- 
ing the  holy  and  self-denying  men  and  women  who  have 
here  been  laboring  for  years  to  produce  the  astonishing 
and  glorious  effects  which  I  now  beheld  before  me.  And 
never  did  virtue  more  justly  frown  on  vice,  than  wakes 
the  voice  of  benevolence  in  displeasure  when  contempla- 
ting the  vicious  defamation  which  self-interest,  jealous 
tratfic,  and  depravity  of  heart,  at  times  indulge  against 
such  demonstrations  of  the  righteous  work  of  God's  chil- 
dren, who  advocate  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  in  its  pu- 
rity and  practice. 

On  attempting  to  leave  the  church,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  services,  I  found  it  impossible  to  proceed  for  a  while,  as 
the  warm-hearted  natives  pressed  around  me  to  give  me 
their  hands  ;  but  moving  slowly  as  I  accepted  the  proffered 
demonstration  of  their  interest  on  either  side  of  me,  as  I 
passed,  I  finally  broke  through  their  gathered  numbers. 
And  when  I  had  reached  my  room,  but  a  short  distance 
from  the  church,  which  overlooks  the  grounds  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, I  gazed,  with  a  feasted  eye  and  a  full  heart,  on 
the  streams  of  men,  women,  and  children,  flowing  from 
every  door  of  the  large  building,  and  directing  their  way 
to  their  homes,  in  the  quiet  and  orderly  walk  of  the  respect- 
ful, who  give  consideration  and  conscientious  observance 
to  the  Sabbath  day. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  231 

All  were  decently  clad,  but  in  such  a  manner  and  variety 
of  costume,  in  coloring  and  in  material,  as  to  interest  the 
beholder,  and  to  declare  the  transition  state  of  the  natives, 
in  their  passage  from  their  original  savage  to  civilized  life. 
Here  was  a  passing  group,  one  of  whom  perhaps  was  clad 
in  a  deep  orange-colored  gown,  with  a  bright  yellow  wrap- 
per around  the  waist,  knotted  behind  by  the  upper  corners, 
so  as  to  form  something  like  an  apron,  while  the  dark  bushy 
hair  was  filleted  with  a  wreath  of  yellow  flowers  or  a  roll 
of  yellow  feathers,  constituting  a  costly  ornament  for  the 
head  or  neck  of  the  female  native.  Another,  in  the  same 
group,  has  thrown  a  large  purple  tappa  around  him,  knot- 
ted over  one  of  his  shoulders  after  the  style  of  the  Roman 
toga,  and  discovering  a  white  shirt  beneath,  with  a  chaplet 
of  ferns  circling  his  head,  while  his  dark  neck  and  lower 
limbs  are  left  in  the  freeness  and  bareness  of  a  Highland 
chief's.  Again,  a  light  blue  silk  shawl  covers  a  white 
frock,  with  a  small  straw  bonnet  upon  the  head  ;  or  a  crim- 
son shawl  over  a  blue  calico  dress,  with  a  similar  hat. 
Indeed,  almost  all  the  females  wear  a  straw  bonnet  on  the 
Sabbath,  which  is  manufactured  upon  the  islands  ;  and  I 
am  not  certain  but  that  the  chaplet  of  leaves  or  flowers  to 
which  I  have  alluded  is  only  a  week-day  ornament.  And 
here,  again,  is  seen  an  old  man  with  a  long  staff  in  his 
hand,  and  with  feeble  step,  clad  in  a  simple  white  dress  of 
tappa,  the  native  material  of  the  island,  made  often  beau- 
tifully from  the  bark  of  the  mulberry,  now  wending  his 
way  from  a  Christian  temple,  in  deep  thought  and  musings, 
unlike  those  that  attended  him  from  the  revel  and  the  sac- 
rifice of  former  days.  Arid  there,  the  light-hearted  group 
of  children,  in  every  color  of  stripe  and  figure  of  silk  or 
cotton,  or  tappa  of  coarser  or  richer  material,  move  on, 
with  free  and  bounding  step.  And  there,  the  governor,  in 
his  blue  cloth  frock-coat  and  white  pantaloons,  and  straw 
hat,  is  seen,  attended  by  a  little  boy  in  his  dress  of  frock- 
coat  and  white  trousers,  and  shoes  and  stockings ;  and  a 
little  girl,  in  black  frock  and  white  pantalettes  and  jockey 
hat,  all  undistinguished  from  a  well-dressed  group  of  Eu- 
ropeans, accompanied  by  a  train  of  more  indifferently  clad 
attendants.  Many  others  were  in  European  style,  among 
the  males  and  females — the  loose  gown,  and  shawl,  and 


232          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

bonnet  being  the  common  dress  for  the  female  natives. 
And  one  group  more  may  serve  to  fill  up  the  picture.  It 
is  the  principal  woman  of  the  islands.  She  is  drawn  by 
four  or  five  natives,  in  a  small  hand-vehicle,  with  two 
wheels,  not  unlike  a  porter's  hand-cart,  but  a  convenient 
carriage  on  a  plain  and  smooth  path  for  the  principal  lady 
of  the  islands,  who  is  more  than  six  feet  high,  and  weighs 
— I  know  not  how  much.  Her  dress  is  European — the 
expression  of  her  face  good-natured — and  her  signature 
required  to  give  validity  to  the  acts  of  the  king  and  his 
chiefs.  Her  son  is  the  adopted  heir-apparent  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  islands,  and  she  has  in  charge  the  infant 
child,  who  holds,  as  queen,  the  same  position  in  the  govern- 
ment as  does  his  present  majesty  as  king. 

But  as  the  eye  lingers  on  this  moving  crowd,  as  they 
are  seen  retiring  from  the  house  of  worship  to  their  homes, 
presenting  so  great  variety  in  their  dress,  they  are  yet  all 
decently  clad,  and  move  at  their  ease  in  stillness  and  pro- 
priety, and  exhibit  evidences  of  great,  though  as  yet  a  rude 
contentment  and  happiness. 

How  great  is  the  contrast !  How  unlike  the  picture 
the  same  people  exhibited  but  a  few  years  ago  !  Another 
congregation  of  eqtfal  size,  at  the  other  end  of  the  town, 
was  dispersing  from  the  house  of  worship  to  which  they 
had  gathered,  in  like  order,  decency,  and  rude  respecta- 
bility. The  wide  avenue,  extending  for  a  half  mile  be- 
tween the  two  churches,  seemed  crowded  by  the  meeting 
throng. 

But  it  would  require  the  Christian  community  at  home 
to  see,  as  I  have  seen  to-day,  the  worshipping  thousands 
of  the  Hawaiians,  duly  to  appreciate  the  scene.  Over  the 
same  congregation  of  these  islanders  which  I  had  addressed, 
the  eye  of  the  Christian  could  look,  in  late  months,  as  they 
gathered  for  worship,  and  see,  not  as  an  u/ifrequent  scene, 
half  the  congregation  in  tears,  as  the  preacher  declared 
to  them  the  truths  which  have  been  borne  to  their  under- 
standings, through  the  labors  of  the  devoted  missionary, 
during  the  few  past  years.  They  bowed  their  heads  in 
sorrow  for  their  sinfulness — with  religious  sympathies,  in 
view  of  the  affecting  story  of  the  plan  of  salvation — and 
resolved  to  be  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  to  this 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  233 

church,  more  than  four  hundred  have  been  added,  on  pro- 
fession of  religion,  during  the  last  year;  and  more  than 
six  hundred  to  the  communion  in  the  second  church  ;  and 
more  than  ten  thousand,  in  all,  to  the  churches  on  the  dif- 
ferent islands.     And  the  whole  number  of  the  communi- 
cants in  the  different  churches  of  the  mission  amounts  to 
more  than  sixteen  thousand  souls.     The  mission  has  thus 
been  blessed,  by  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon 
its   churches,  and   the   ingathering  of  thousands  to  the 
communion.     At  Hilo,  on  a  neighboring  island,  five  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  forty-four  have,  this  last  year, 
joined  the  church.     And  at  Waimea,  on  the  same  island 
of   Hawaii,   twenty-three   hundred   more.      Surely,   the 
heart  that  has  any  Christian  sympathies  for  the   cause  of 
Christ,  or  the  eternal  welfare  of  his  fellow-men,  must  glow 
in  view  of  this  statement ;  and  the  lover  of  the  mission- 
ary cause  may  exult  in  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good, 
for  this  triumphant  exhibition  of  the  success  of  Christ's 
cause  among  the  heathen.    And  tell  me,  Christian  reader, 
while  the  grateful  tear  wakes  in  memory  of  the  goodness 
of  God  to  your  own  soul,  and  in  boundless  mercies  to  these 
once  and  but  lately  benighted  savages,  can  you  feel  other- 
wise than  an  abhorrence  at  the  slang  of  the  infidel  and 
the  opposer,  who  are  sometimes  heard,  either  from  self- 
interest  or  hate,  to  decry  so  worthy  a  cause  and  so  wor- 
thy a  band  of  devoted  men  and  women,  who  have  bless- 
ed, by  their  residence  and  efforts,  at  the  sacrifice  of  friends 
and  home,  the  whole  people  of  these  islands  ?     Believe 
me,  this  mission  is  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  Chris- 
tian community  at  home ;  and  as  surely  as  the   smile  of 
God  has  rested  so  signally  upon  it,  so  surely  it  will  receive 
the  confidence  and  the  support  of  the  Christians  in  Ameri- 
ca.    And  I  trust,  as  an  Episcopalian,  my  testimony  of 
confidence  and  commendation  and  deep-felt  interest  in 
behalf  of  this  Congregational  and   Presbyterian  mission 
to  the  Sandwich  Islands  will  not  be  regarded,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  less  unbiased  and  sincere. 


234  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


VISITS    TO    THE    DIFFERENT    MISSIONARY    FAMILIES. 

On  each  succeeding  evening  of  this  week  I  took  tea 
with  some  one  of  the  missionary  families,  accepting  their 
kind  invitations  in  that  way  that  would  enable  me  to  make 
each  an  evening's  visit  before  we  left  Honolulu.  Usually 
I  met  some  of  the  officers  of  the  squadron  present,  and 
some  of  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  the  mission  or  of 
the  foreign  residents.  The  families  of  the  mission  resi- 
dent at  Honolulu  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  form  an  in- 
teresting circle  within  themselves. 

The  day  I  first  called  on  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bingham  was 
the  twentieth  anniversary  of  the  day  they  together  enter- 
ed a  stage  coach  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  for  Boston, 
whence  they  soon  after  took  their  departure  for  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.  And  this  evening,  Monday,  when  I  was 
taking  tea  with  them,  surrounded  by  other  members  of 
the  mission  and  officers  from  our  ships,  presents  a  change 
indeed,  wrhich  these  two  oldest  missionaries  alone  can 
justly  contrast  in  all  its  shade  and  light. 

Mrs.  Judd  brought  in  with  her,  after  tea,  the  gorgeous 
and  indescribably  delicate  "  night-blooming  ceres."  There 
are  things  in  nature  wrhich  so  affect  one  with  their  beau- 
ties, that  the  mind  feels  its  incapacity,  by  emblems  and 
comparisons,  adequately  to  define  them,  and  loves  rather 
to  feel  the  effect  of  the  beautiful  than  to  attempt  its  deli- 
neation. "  How  unearthly  it  looks,"  said  Mrs.  J.  "  How 
unearthly  it  looks,"  I  only  repeated,  and  still  gazed  on  the 
exquisite  and  elongated  white  corollas  within  their  yel- 
lowish green  calix,  surrounding  a  thick  fringe  of  stamens, 
which,  with  their  circle  of  tasseled,  straw-colored  and 
flexible  filaments,  inlay  this  cup  of  more  than  alabaster 
white  and  purity.  The  white  pistil,  too,  tufted  with  a 
yellow  fringe,  further  ornamenting  the  centre  of  the  cup, 
harmonizes,  in  exquisite  softness,  with  the  surrounding 
tassels,  that  wave  or  languish,  as  the  beautiful  cup  may 
be  turned,  with  the  grace  and  mellowness  of  the  softest 
fringe  on  silken  and  richest  scarf  of  lady.  We  took  the 
gorgeous  and  soft  flower  to  its  native  element,  the  moon- 
beam, to-night  falling  from  a  clear  and  bright  heaven. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          235 

And  it  drank  in  the  soft  ray  so  sweetly,  and  itself  looked 
so  lovely,  that  nothing  short  of  Moore's  a3olian  euphony 
in  lyric  rhythm,  or  Bailey's  soft  melancholy  of  song, 
should,  by  any  attempt  at  description,  disturb  the  sweet 
harmony  "of  this  bright  night,  this  exquisite  climate,  and  a 
thing  so  blended  of  the  loveliness  of  the  one  and  the  soft- 
ness of  the  other,  as  is  this  lovely  "  night-blooming  ceres." 

This  beautiful  plant  of  the  cactus  is  plentiful  and  luxu- 
riant here,  overtopping  the  high  palings  of  the  garden 
fences,  and  annually  and  prodigally  displaying,  in  the  soft 
moonbeam  of  this  delicious  climate,  its  graceful  flower, 
which  bends  its  modest  neck,  as  it  receives  the  approba- 
ting and  blessed  smiles  of  the  silvering  queen,  on  her  pas- 
sage in  her  night-car  through  these  serene  heavens.  The 
flower  is  a  thing  to  be  thought  of  in  connection  with  the 
remembered  friend  with  whom  we  have  gazed  at  it,  with 
like  appreciation  of  its  harmonies  in  itself,  and  the  moon- 
lit scene  of  light  and  mellowed  shade,  in  which  it  timidly 
unfolded  its  modest  and  unequalled  beauties  to  the  sight. 

The  next  evening  I  met  the  King,  at  tea,  at  Dr.  Judd's. 
I  had  before  seen  his  Hawaiian  majesty  at  his  own  resi- 
dence near  the  fort,  in  company  with  the  governor  and 
chief  princess,  and  other  chiefs  who  were  present.  The 
king  seemed  interested  in  a  description  given  him  of  the 
proceedings  of  a  court  martial.  And  it  was  remarked  to 
him,  that  if  the  cause  of  temperance  on  our  arrival  had 
prevailed,  so  that  liquor  could  not  have  been  procured 
here,  the  case  before  the  court  then  holding  its  sittings 
would  not  have  occurred. 

"  It  is  a  pity,"  said  the  king,  with  an  expression  of  coun- 
tenance which  indicated  his  deep  sincerity  of  feeling.  "  I 
am  sorry  the  temperance  rule  prevails  not  entirely." 

Where  the  king's  mind  was  wandering  at  this  moment, 
no  one  at  the  table  could  doubt,  though  it  would  have 
been  impolite  to  urge  the  subject,  to  the  recalling  of  the 
late  occurrences  at  this  place,  when,  the  king  feels,  and 
all  impartial  judges  feel,  that  he  was  necessitated — by  the 
interests  of  a  French  consul,  in  near  view  of  the  guns  of 
the  frigate  1'Artemise,  and  the  threat  that  a  larger  French 
force  from  the  coast,  ere  long,  should  appear  off*  the  is- 
lands to  take  possession  of  them  unless  proposals  which 

47 


236  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

were  made  were  complied  with — to  sign  an  instrument, 
which,  if  it  made  him  not  a  vassal  of  the  French  king, 
took  from  him  the  power  of  excluding  from  his  posses- 
sions, for  the  benefit  of  his  subjects,  French  brandy  and 
French  wines.  And  why  ?  Because  M.  Dudoit,  the  French 
consul,  would  be  a  dealer  in  the  articles,  notwithstanding 
the  king  had,  a  short  time  previously,  to  the  great  satis- 
faction of  the  best  wishers  of  the  subjects  of  his  majesty, 
totally  excluded,  by  law,  the  further  importation  of  all  dis- 
tilled spirits  whatever  into  any  port  of  his  possessions. 
This  was  in  accordance  with  the  nearly  unanimous  voice 
of  the  residents  of  the  islands,  and  shipmasters  visiting 
these  ports  ;  and  alter  the  king's  own  sincerity  had  been 
manifested  by  the  destruction  of  the  whole  (three  in  num- 
ber) of  his  own  distilleries  in  his  islands.  But,  more  of 
this  in  its  proper  place,  further  on. 

The  king  spoke  of  the  ancient  games  of  the  people,  and 
their  influence  upon  his  subjects,  and  what  would  be  their 
effect  if  renewed.  It  would  be  the  reviving  of  a  system 
of  gambling,  to  continue  from  Monday  morning  till  Sun- 
day night.  The  exercise  might  be  well  enough,  but  the 
dissipation  and  idleness  consequent  thereon  would  more 
than  counterbalance  any  good  that  may  be  supposed  to 
rise  from  the  sports.  He  instanced  the  rolling  of  the  disk  ; 
the  name  of  the  game  is  forgotten ;  but  it  consists  in  roll- 
ing a  round  and  smooth  stone,  of  about  four  inches  in 
diameter,  and  increasing,  from  its  edge  to  its  centre,  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  inches  thick.  Were  this  game  to 
be  revived,  said  the  king,  you  would  see  the  street,  for 
a  half  mile,  crowded  with  people  to  witness  the  success 
of  the  competitors  in  rolling  this  stone.  The  one  who 
rolls  it  the  furthest  is  the  victor.  But  the  evil  of  the  sys- 
tem would  be,  that  all  this  multitude  would  not  only  be 
present  to  witness  the  rolling,  but  would  be  sitting  up  all 
the  succeeding  nights,  betting  and  in  exciting  conversa- 
tion in  connection  with  the  sport,  and  this  for  several 
succeeding  days,  to  the  neglect  of  all  business,  and  end- 
ing in  disputes  and  revels.  But  as  a  substitution  for  these 
things,  the  people  are  encouraged  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
raising  the  kalo  and  other  vegetables  and  productions, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  with  increasing  success,  and  to  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          237 

cultivation  of  permanent  habits  of  industry  among  the 
.great  body  of  the  natives. 

The  grounds  about  the  house  of  Dr.  Judd  are  well 
filled  with  trees  and  shrubs,  a  very  acceptable  and  plea- 
sant thing  always  to  the  stranger  as  well  as  to  the  foreign 
resident  in  view  of  the  arid  level  on  which  the  town  of 
Honolulu  is  situated.  For  all  this,  the  doctor  says,  the 
merit  is  due  to  Mrs.  J.,  as  he  is  often  absent  in  his  prac- 
tice, as  the  physician  to  the  mission,  to  different  parts  of 
the  island.  Mrs.  J.  is  a  lady  of  taste,  with  a  heart  of 
great  kindness  and  benevolence.  It  will  be  acceptable 
to  the  friends  of  midshipman  Morris  to  know,  that  it  is 
within  the  bosom  of  such  a  family  that  he  is  now  located 
in  his  illness,  and  where  he  will  be  left,  we  would  hope, 
to  recover ;  but  we  fear  that  in  his  advanced  stage  of 
pulmonary  affection,  that  even  this  favorable  climate,  and 
the  nursing  which  the  kindness  and  the  sympathies  of 
those  with  whom  he  is  staying  in  great  tenderness  and 
care  will  secure  to  him,  may  not  possess  the  power  to 
restore  him  to  health.  Young  Morris  is  sensible  that  he 
has  fallen  into  kind  hands,  and  is  resigned  and  contented 
as  far  as  his  circumstances  of  great  debility  admit.  And 
to  me,  in  the  apprehension  that  he  may  never  again  be 
recovered  to  health,  it  is  a  consolation,  though  he  sailed 
in  another  ship,  to  know  from  my  conversations  with  him, 
that  we  shall  leave  him  thoughtful  of  his  future  destiny, 
and  with  hopes  that  he  has  made  his  peace  with  his  God, 
to  whom  he  trusts  he  has  (even  since  we  have  arrived  at 
these  islands)  committed  himself,  in  resignation  and  dis- 
cipleship. 

The  following  day,  Wednesday,  the  twenty-third,  the 
king  visited  the  frigate,  to  whom  an  entertainment  was 
given  by  the  Commodore.  The  chief  princess  of  the 
island,  the  governor,  and  other  natives,  constituting  the 
king's  suit,  the  American,  English,  and  French  consuls, 
the  gentlemen  of  the  mission,  and  the  foreign  residents 
generally,  were  also  on  board. 

The  king  was  received  with  the  yards  manned  and  a 
salute  of  twenty-one  guns — the  officers  and  company  being 
on  deck.  I  know  not  whether  the  dress  of  his  majesty 
was  of  the  Windsor  pattern  or  not,  but  it  was  a  rich  and 


238          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

every  way  an  elegant  suit.  The  coat  was  richly  laced  on 
lapel,  skirt,  and  collar,  and  is  known  to  have  cost  eight 
hundred  dollars.  His  pantaloons  white,  and  richly  laced 
at  the  sides,  and  his  chapeau  corresponding,  in  its  lace, 
for  breadth  and  richness. 

The  king  supported  himself  with  propriety  ;  his  man- 
ners were  easy  and  sufficiently  dignified.  His  health  was 
drunk  at  the  table,  standing,  while  he  retained  his  seat. 
On  drinking  wine  in  compliment  with  the  queen  regent, 
(as  I  suppose  she  may  be  called,  having  the  care  of  the 
infant  queen  in  her  minority,  and  acting  in  her  stead,)  to 
whom  I  was  near  at  the  table,  she  remarked,  as  she  was 
further  helped  to  a  bunch  of  raisins,  "this  is  the  best  wine" 
— wine  and  raisins  being  designated  by  the  same  word 
in  the  Hawaiian  language.  She  was  dressed  in  a  lilac- 
colored  silk,  and  is  an  immense  woman — more  than  six 
feet  high  and  proportionally  large. 

The  company  had  strolled  over  the  ship  previously  to 
taking  their  seats  at  the  table,  and  seemed  at  their  ease, 
and  gratified.  1  left  the  ship  with  my  missionary  friends 
at  dusk,  and  the  king  and  his  party  reached  the  shore  at 
about  the  same  time.  The  entertainment  passed  off  very 
agreeably  to  the  guests  and  creditably  to  the  host.  It  was 
a  coincidence  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  noted  by  me,  and 
acceptable  enough  for  the  Christian  community  at  home, 
perhaps  to  be  repeated  in  connection  with  the  religious 
effort  which  has  b  3en  put  forth  in  behalf  of  these  islanders, 
whose  king  to-day  was  entertained  under  the  circum- 
stances described,  that  it  was  the  twentieth  anniversary  day 
of  the  departure  of  the  first  missionaries  from  Boston  for 
these  islands.  There  is  evidence  written,  everywhere  we 
move  on  shore,  of  the  success  of  this  early  and  Christian 
enterprise,  as  we  contemplate  it  in  the  advance  of  this 
people  thus  far  on  the  scale  of  civilization  and  Christianity, 
however  far  they  may  be  from  the  highest  point  of  its 
graduation. 

The  succeeding  evening  I  visited  at  Mr.  Knapp's,  and 
met,  besides  some  of  the  officers  as  usual,  at  tea  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Castle,  Mrs.  Walker  and  Miss  Smith. 

I  was  agreeably  reminded  by  Mrs.  Knapp  of  her  hav- 
ing seen  me  before  her  leaving  the  United  States,  in 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  239 

Greenwich,  Connecticut,  whither,  during  my  university 
course  at  New  Haven,  I  had  wandered  with  a  friend  to 
that  border  of  the  state.  I  was  grateful  for  her  memory, 
as  it  enabled  me  to  re-live  over  a  very  agreeable  incident 
among  those  hours  of  halcyon  days,  when  the  world  had 
a  freshness  in  its  scenes,  which  a  few  years  only  in  its 
broad  walks  reduces  to  common  incident.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
K.  are  a  young  couple  who  have  not  long  been  to  the 
islands.  The  same  is  true  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cook,  at  whose 
house  I  visited  the  succeeding  evening. 

Mr.  Chamberlain,  whose  interesting  family  I  visited, 
is  the  secular  agent  of  the  whole  mission  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  assisted  by  Mr.  Castle,  a  gentleman  of  great  worth, 
already  mentioned.  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  a  person  well 
qualified  for  the  position  he  occupies,  and  is  beloved  by 
all  the  members  of  the  mission,  among  whom  there  is  one 
harmonious  feeling  of  agreement  and  kindness.  The 
children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  are  particularly  interesting 
for  their  fine  and  classic  features,  and  the  womanly  man- 
ners of  the  two  little  girls.  I  mention  them  here,  that  I 
may  also  say  that  the  children  of  the  missionaries,  gene- 
rally, will  not  fail  to  interest  the  stranger  for  the  precoci- 
ty of  their  minds  and  manners.  This  is  to  be  attributed, 
in  a  good  degree,  to  the  fact  that  the  parents  make  compan- 
ions of  their  children,  and  that  they  are  cut  off  from  an 
intercourse  with  numerous  children  of  their  own  age. 
And  here,  too,  they  are  kept,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  from 
acquiring  the  language  of  the  natives,  that  their  associa- 
tion with  native  children  may  be  prevented,  lest  their 
minds  might  be  corrupted  by  much  in  the  Hawaiian  lan- 
guage deemed  to  be  objectionable.  Whatever  may  be 
the  policy  of  this  course,  it  is  certain  that  it  throws  the 
children  upon  their  parents  as  resources  for  their  amuse- 
ment and  conversation.  These  two  little  girls  of  whom, 
I  speak,  I  take  to  be,  the  one  six  and  the  other  eight  years 
of  age  ;  and  they  entered  into  a  conversation  with  me  with 
all  the  zest  and  vivacity  of  young  ladies  with  the  advanta- 
ges of  a  number  of  more  years.  By  some  circumstance 
the  conversation  fell  upon  noses,  (I  am  half  disposed  to 
think  that  the  circumstance  was  originated  by  myself,  as 
their  noses  were  extremely  fine  and  Grecian,)  when  I 

47* 


240  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

mentioned  thai  Bonaparte,  I  believed,  was  in  the  habit  of 
selecting  his  body-guard  by  their  noses.  He  always  con- 
sidered a  man  with  a  large  nose,  to  be  possessed  of  courage 
and  firmness. 

"  And  I  remember,"  said  the  little  girl  of  six,  with  great 
playfulness,  "  precisely  what  kind  of  nose  my  brother  has, 
who  is  in  America/' 

"  And  what  do  you  think  of  America  ?" 

"  I  think  it  must  be  a  very  fine  country." 

"  And  did  you  ever  see  any  chestnuts  from  America  ?" 

"I  think  I  have." 

"  And  what  were  they  like  ?" 

"  They  were  like" — I  forget  now  the  particular  reply 
of  my  little  friend,  otherwise  than  her  chestnuts  proved  to 
have  been  filberts,  and  I  promised  (and  I  intend  to  fulfil 
all  my  engagements  to  my  little  friends  abroad)  to  send 
her  a  parcel  of  chestnuts  and  other  mementoes  on  my  re- 
turn to  the  United  States. 

The  missionaries  send  most  of  their  children  home,  so 
soon  as  they  reach  the  proper  age  and  preparation  for  the 
continuance  of  their  education  under  more  favorable  ad- 
vantages than  they  would  receive  here.  They  are  con- 
signed to  the  care  of  their  kindred  ;  and  I  am  told  that 
the  proceeds  of  property  committed  to  the  care  of  the 
American  Board  by  some  of  the  missionaries  here,  either 
on  the  part  of  the  mother  or  the  father,  more  than  yield  a 
sufficient  income  for  the  education  of  their  children  in  the 
United  States,  and  in  some  instances,  besides,  defray  the 
amount  of  the  nominal  salary,  in  that  case,  which  they  re- 
ceive from  the  Board  at  home. 

LUA    AT    THE    PARI. 

We  had  heard  much  of  the  native  manner  of  cooking 
food  and  their  mode  of  getting  up  things  at  a  lua,  which 
is  something  after  the  manner  of  a  southern  barbecue. 
Not  having  as  yet  ridden  to  the  Pari,  one  of  the  curiosities 
of  this  island,  and  the  arrangement  having  been  made  to 
have  a  lua  at  that  point,  I  accepted  an  invitation  to  form 
one  of  the  numerous  party  on  the  occasion. 

The  ride  to  the  Pari  lies  through  a  beautiful  valley, 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          241 

stretching  quite  across  the  island.  Having  mounted  our 
horses,  which  are  all  in  good  keeping  on  the  island,  but 
ill-gaited,  as  the  full  canter  seems  to  be  the  usual  speed 
for  riding  here,  we  passed  over  the  level  ground  back  of 
the  town  by  a  track  that  soon  conducted  us  through 
patches  of  taro,  (arum  esculentum,)  written  kalo  in  the 
Hawaiian.  Crossing  one  or  two  bridges  we  soon  found 
ourselves  threading  a  spacious  ravine,  which  contracts  as 
one  proceeds  to  its  further  extremity,  a  distance  of  some 
six  miles  across  the  island,  where  it  is  abruptly  terminated 
by  a  precipice.  The  word  precipice,  in  the  language  of 
the  island,  is  pari,  and  hence  the  name  of  this  steep. 

We  first  reached  the  residence  of  Dr.  Roke,  who  has 
a  dwelling  at  the  entrance  of  the  valley.  He  joined  our 
party  and  we  rode  on.  The  doctor,  who  has  been  some 
time  resident  on  the  island,  seems  familiar  with  its  locali- 
ties and  productions,  and  many  of  its  legends.  On  our  left 
as  we  advanced,  high  up  among  the  peaks  that  rose  in 
their  eminences  above  us,  the  doctor  thinks  to  be  a  cave 
of  the  ancient  kings  and  chiefs.  So  the  legends  go,  and 
he  has  often  and  long  looked  for  it,  but  has  never  yet  struck 
upon  its  mouth,  though  the  natives  point  out  a  prominent 
tree  as  designating  its  entrance.  The  present  ruling  family 
have  their  royal  mausoleum  in  the  town  of  Honolulu,  where 
the  coffins  are  retained  with  their  coverings  of  velvet. 

Having  measured  a  mile  or  two  further  over  the  grad- 
ually ascending  plain  of  the  ravine,  we  reached  the  cot- 
tage of  a  Mr.  Pelly,  agent  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
at  this  island.  Below  his  house,  and  formed  by  a  break  in 
the  plain  of  the  ravine,  is  a  small  but  quite  a  pretty  fall  of 
water.  Having  alighted,  I  chose  to  be  interested  in  this 
pretty  exhibition  of  one  of  the  forms  which  nature  assumes, 
on  which  no  one  can  gaze  without  having  his  heart  ren- 
dered more  pure  in  the  communion,  rather  than  to  seek 
the  conversation  of  a  man,  with  whose  principles  in  morals 
or  actions  as  a  gentleman,  I  could  have  no  sympathies. 
This  Mr.  P.  constituted  one  of  an  honorable  quincunx, 
who,  in  the  late  visit  of  the  frigate  PArtemise  to  this 
place,  joined  in  an  expression  of  thanks  to  her  commander 
for  pursuing  a  course,  which,  in  his  public  documents,  ex- 
patriated American  citizens :  and  which,  had  his  plans 


242          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

been  carried  into  execution  on  the  non-compliance  of  the 
government  with  the  conditions  dictated  to  it  under  the 
guns  of  a  man-of-war,  would  have  exposed  all  the  families 
of  this  mission  to  the  mercy  of  the  crew  of  a  French 
cruiser.  That  this  gentleman  with  his  four  compeers 
may  have  all  the  glory  that  such  a  paper  can  confer,  I 
may,  further  on,  quote  the  same  for  their  especial  benefit, 
and  to  awaken  the  frown  of  every  virtuous  reader. 

The  rest  of  our  way  was  by  a  less  even  path,  though 
not  less  interesting,  as  we  pursued  a  narrower  track  through 
the  luxuriant  undergrowth  matted  about  the  more  elevated 
hibiscus,  among  the  boughs  of  which  the  convolvulus 
wormed  its  spiral  vine  and  let  drop  its  trumpet  cup  to  the 
rider's  view.  A  native  was  at  my  side,  who  kept  pace 
with  our  advance,  and  gathered  for  my  pleasure  whatever 
I  designated  on  tree  or  shrub  or  ferns,  among  the  latter  of 
which  (beautiful  in  their  varieties  and  luxuriant  in  their 
growth)  we  were  now  moving  in  our  more  elevated  but 
gradual  ascent.  We  now  passed  on  through  the  grandest 
part  of  the  ravine,  formed  by  the  perpendicular  sides  of 
basalt  lava,  with  the  mystic  cloud  hanging  upon  the  high- 
est tops  in  their  threatening  shade  and  misty  wreaths,  as 
if  they  sought  to  throw  a  gloom  to  the  deeps  below,  to 
heighten  the  sublimity  of  the  threatening  battlements  that 
rose,  in  their  height  and  mists,  above  us.  We  came  to  a 
space  of  clear  ground,  where  the  ravine  had  again  nar- 
rowed in  correspondence  with  the  termination  of  the  per- 
pendicular ranges  of  basalt  at  a  point  we  had  passed,  and 
thus  forming  an  oval  basin,  as  seen  from  either  extreme  of 
the  valley.  We  dismounted  and  gave  our  horses  to  the 
care  of  the  natives,  while  we  walked  up  a  short  ascent  to 
a  notch  of  the  mountains  which  we  had  seen  all  the  way 
before  us,  and  found  ourselves  suddenly  on  the  brow  of 
the  Pari — a  precipice,  which  terminated  this  end  of  the 
ravine.  The  prospect  overlooks  a  spacious  level  below, 
luxuriant  in  its  richness,  and  mellowed  to  the  softness  of 
velvet ;  while  the  curling  breakers  are  seen  dashing  over 
the  coral  reefs  beyond,  and  the  deep,  deep  blue  sea  is  far 
out  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

But  the  gale — for  a  current  of  wind  ever  sets  through 
this  gap — almost  choked  me  as  I  attempted  to  wind  my 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  243 

way  across  the  pass,  through  which  the  currents  of  air 
rush  in  their  passage  of  the  whole  length  of  the  valley, 
and  pour  their  currents  over  the  town  of  Honolulu.  We 
proceeded  a  short  distance  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  to 
gain  the  path  for  descending  the  Pari.  This  we  accom- 
plished, though  deemed  in  former  times  a  difficult  attempt. 
By  the  assistance  of  an  iron  railing  in  the  most  difficult 
part  of  the  steep,  the  feat  is  not  difficult,  though  very  much 
to  the  disturbing  of  the  easy  breathing  of  a  plethoric  man. 
For  myself  I  found  the  descent  and  return  of  little  difficulty, 
and  at  the  expense  of  but  little  fatigue,  and  for  a  very  good 
reason  it  may  be,  as  I  had  a  native  hold  of  my  stick  to 
keep  me  from  too  rapid  a  progress  down,  and  two  of  them 
to  draw  me  back  again. 

When  already  about  to  encounter  the  currents  on  the 
top  of  the  Pari,  which  drive  in  a  hurricane  through  this 
gorge  of  the  ravine,  two  natives  seized  me  to  keep  me 
from  being  blown  up  the  mountain-side,  or  point  blank 
into  the  broadside  of  a  lava-rock — my  hat  already  having 
been  seized  by  a  third  native,  and  a  fourth  attempting  to 
secure  my  umbrella,  all  in  the  greatest  kindness.  I  broke 
from  them  all,  and  was  met  by  a  messenger  from  the  party 
at  the  bower,  where  the  lua  was  to  be  spread,  saying  that 
one  oven  had  been  retained  unopened,  to  await  me,  that  I 
might  see  the  mysteries  of  the  native  mode  of  roasting 
pig,  fish,  and  dog,  and  whatever  else  might  be  the  ingre- 
dients of  the  oven. 

I  hurried  on,  and  found,  in  the  neighborhood  where 
our  horses  had  been  left,  that  a  bower  had  been  raised—- 
half a  hundred  natives  gathered  in  different  groups — 
several  fires  smoking — and,  within  the  temporary  bower, 
constructed  of  poles  and  bushes,  and  matted  with  the  ki- 
leaf,  were  seen  his  majesty  Kammahamaha  III.,  Commo- 
dore Read,  commanding  the  U.  S.  East  India  squadron, 
H.  B.  M .  Consul  Captain  Charlton,  and  some  dozen,  more 
or  less,  of  the  officers  of  the  squadron,  comfortably — that 
may  be  questioned — but  certainly  seated,  at  their  leisure, 
on  the  ki-leaves,  beneath  the  bower.  Here  all  had  gath- 
ered to  the  lua. 

The  eating  of  dogs  was  formerly  a  very  common  cus- 
tom with  the  islanders,  and  a  canine  roaster  was  deemed 


244  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

a  delicious  dish — a  royal  dish.  The  dogs,  however,  are 
of  a  particular  species,  so  said,  though  I  suppose  it  matters 
little  as  to  their  kind.  Those  which  are  destined  for  the 
lua  are  fed  on  poe,  a  dish  made  from  the  kalo,  and  form- 
ing the  principal  food  of  the  natives.  Those  who  have 
eaten  of  the  dog,  as  cooked  here,  say  it  is  fine.  This  is 
the  universal  testimony ;  and  a  person,  not  knowing  to 
what  he  was  helped,  with  a  piece  of  dog  thus  prepared 
upon  his  plate,  would  pronounce  it  to  be  more  than  a 
usually  choice  piece  of  pig.  So  say  the  epicures — so  say 
the  curious.  The  consequence  is,  that  those  who  visit  the 
islands  generally  have  a  slight  sensation  of  an  inclination, 
for  eating  dog — for  once.  Consequently,  the  lua  was 
given  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the  stranger-comers  of 
our  squadron. 

Behold,  then,  when  I  had  reached  the  last  oven,  yet 
remaining  uncovered,  behold  the  opening  of  its  contents. 
First,  a  play  of  fine  wreaths  of  steam  dissipating  them- 
selves in  thin  air  above  a  hillock  of  green  leaves,  over 
which  the  drops  of  vapor  had  condensed  themselves,  so 
as  to  preserve  the  outer  leaves  of  the  little  pile  moist.  Be- 
hold !  A  native,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Thompson,  a 
gentleman  of  travel,  seeking  health  and  pleasure,  who 
seemed  to  be  the  master  of  ceremonies  to-day,  removed 
layer  after  layer  of  leaves,  until  some  six  inches  thick  of 
these  long  and  wide  ki-folia  were  disposed  of.  Behold ! 
The  removing  of  the  next  layer  presented  the  proportions 
fair  to  the  hungry  man,  proportions  tasteful  to  any  man, 
of  a  whole  pig,  from  tongue  to  tail,  from  back  to  breast, 
from  toe  to  teeth.  There  he  was,  nearly  as  big  as  life, 
quite  as  big  as  a  whole  roasted  pig.  And  beside  him  lay, 
in  their  white  and  clean  appearances,  the  whole,  and  the 
half,  and  three  quarter  pieces  of  kalo,  reposing  upon  a 
pavement  of  hot  stones,  which  inlaid  a  circular  and  con- 
cave hole,  which  had  been  scooped  from  the  earth,  about 
twelve  inches  deep. 

"  Very  fine,"  said  his  majesty's  secretary,  as  he  took  a 
piece  of  the  kalo  and  broke  it  for  me  to  taste.  "  Very 
boo-tee-fool,"  he  continued,  as  I  tasted  the  mealy  and  de- 
lightfully flavored  vegetable,  adding  between  the  first  and 
second  taste,  "  very  fine,  very  beautiful,"  not  at  all  dissent- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  245 

ing  from  the  secretary  in  the  truth  of  his  ideas,  however 
much  we  might  differ,  generally,  in  the  application  of 
English  words. 

"  Very  fine,  very  fine  indeed,"  said  another,  as  he  un- 
veiled from  the  smoking  and  verdant  wrapper  of  the  ki- 
leaf  a  fine  fish,  and  submitted  it  to  my  examination  and  taste. 

"  Very  fine,  very  fine  indeed,"  I  repeated ;  and  there 
could  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  fine  manner  in  which  these 
fish  had  thus  been  cooked.  The  pig  had  already  been 
borne  to  a  distance,  while  we  were  tasting  the  various 
articles  besides  those  already  specified,  wrapped  in  their 
separate  coverings  of  the  ki-leaf,  save  the  fine  taro. 

"  Do  they  cook  the  dog  in  square  pieces,  Mr.  Thomp- 
son ?"  I  asked,  as  I  saw  the  natives  take  one  or  two  such 
proportioned  packages  from  the  oven. 

Unaccountably,  Mr.  Thompson  was  called  to  see  the 
direction  of  some  of  the  distant-going  rnoveables,  before 
he  gave  the  reply.  I  had  asked  one  of  the  Hawaiians 
previously,  what  the  oven  contained.  He  had  replied,  a 
pig.  But  Mr.  Thompson,  on  being  asked  if  the  dog  were 
in  this  last  oven,  had  hinted  that  it  was.  I  therefore  drew 
the  inference  that  the  object  of  particular  curiosity  had 
been  dissected,  contrary  to  usual  custom,  as  I  had  no 
doubt  but  that  the  conspicuous,  and  well-baked,  and  very 
delicate-looking  animal,  in  all  his  indismembered  propor- 
tions before  me,  was,  in  truth,  a  pig. 

I  adjourned  to  the  bower  and  took  my  position  among 
the  guests,  everywhere  reposing  "otium  non  cum  digni- 
tate,"  on  the  leaf-matted  floor  of  the  bower. 

Ere  long  the  various  articles  of  the  lua  were  making 
their  appearance  on  various  dishes — dog — pig — several 
pigs — fish — various  kinds  of  fish,  and  never  better  than  at 
these  islands — taro — sweet  potatoes,  et  cetera  et  cetera—- 
and poe,  as  another  characteristic  dish  of  the  natives,  new 
and  old,  the  first  sweet,  the  second  sour. 

"  And  which  is  the  dog  ?"  was  the  general  murmur  of 
interest,  as  that  specific  gentleman,  in  all  his  proportions, 
which  I  had  seen  removed  from  the  oven,  was  placed  near 
Mr.  Thompson,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  King  and  the 
Commodore.  That  is  the  dog,  said  one  ;  and  that  is  the 
dog,  asserted  another ;  and  I  will  take  a  piece  of  the  dog, 


246  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

said  all  in  their  turns.  But  are  you  sure  that  this  is  dog? 
I  could  not  refrain  from  asking,  always  having  been  con- 
sidered somewhat  incredulous  without  having  positive  evi- 
dence for  what  I  am  to  believe,  if  circumstantial  evidence 
rather  prevails  against  the  thing  affirmed. 

"  Let  me  try  a  piece,  I  can  tell,"  said  Mr.  S.,  a  gentle- 
man near  me — "  Calo,  here,  will  not  eat  it  if  it  is  dog," 
added  Mr.  S.,  as  he  pitched  a  small  piece  to  his  favorite 
pointer.  But  Calo  was  a  gentleman's  dog,  and  it  was  not 
his  part  to  refuse  aught  that  was  set  before  him ;  and 
therefore  Calo  ate  it  without  a  murmur. 

"  Dog  don't  eat  dog,"  they  say,  and  incredulity,  in  our 
neighborhood,  seemed  rather  to  prevail. 

"  Mr.  T.,  will  you  take  a  piece  of  the  dog  ?"  asked  Mr. 
Thompson — "  I  do  assure  you  this  is  the  dog,"  reaffirmed 
the  amiable  gentleman. 

"  Pass  it,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Thompson  ;"  and  Calo  was 
treated  to  another  small  piece,  perhaps  from  another  dish, 
but  apparently  from  the  one  from  which  I  had  previously 
been  served. 

The  politeness  of  Calo  did  not  fail  him,  even  the  second 
time ;  and  the  conclusion  now  inevitably  was,  that  either 
dog  will  eat  dog,  or  else  no  dog  graced  the  feast  of  the 
Pari.  And  it  is  equally  true,  that  if  the  piece  to  which  I 
was  helped  was  dog,  I  did  not  distinguish  it  from  the  choice 
rib  part  of  a  pig,  though  in  the  passing  amusement  of  the 
moment,  I  confess  I  did  not  particularly  call  into  requisi- 
tion my  most  particular  powers  of  discrimination. 

The  officers  were  soon  moving  back  on  their  return- 
way  to  town,  in  separate  groups.  The  lua  had  passed  off 
in  great  propriety,  at  least  so  far  as  I  had  seen,  without 
the  rude  noise  of  boisterous  toast,  which  may  be  in  taste 
with  bacchanalian  carousals,  but  not  with  social  and  rural 
repast  of  rational  and  colloquial  beings.  Who  would  not 
forget  a  toast  now  on  record,  in  that  refined — no,  I  will 
not  speak  ironically — in  that  scurrilous  and  disgraceful 
penny-sheet  paper,  the  S.  I.  Gazette — as  having  been 
given  on  a  similar  occasion,  but  very  differently  conducted 
repast,  in  which  there  is  neither  wit,  sentiment,  nor  sense, 
and  a  thing  to  be  regretted  in  the  remembrance,  because 
it  is  destitute  of  all  three  of  them. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  247 

This  is  a  region  of  rainbows.  On  leaving  this  beautiful 
valley,  the  prismatic  colors  arranged  themselves  in  an 
arch  that  spanned  the  valley,  with  its  bases  resting  on 
either  side  of  the  ravine,  advancing  with  its  beautiful  co- 
lors to  the  very  opening  of  the  valley,  and  fading  away  as 
if  bidding  us  adieu,  as  we  left  that  green  ravine  for  ever. 

The  native  custom  of  cooking  dogs  is  diminishing  rapidly 
among  the  natives.  It  is  desirable  that  it  should,  not 
particularly  so  because  there  need  be  any  fastidiousness 
about  eating  this  animal ;  elsewhere,  and  particularly  in 
Canton,  they  are  a  regular  article  to  be  found  in  the  mar- 
kets. And  one  will  in  some  measure,  perhaps,  have  lost 
his  own  fastidiousness  upon  this  subject  by  the  time  he  has 
made  a  voyage  around  the  world.  But  the  particular 
reason  why  the  natives  should  dispense  with  the  habit,  is, 
the  expense  of  raising  the  animal  in  comparison  with 
others  of  greater  value,  when  considered  as  an  article  of 
food.  And  then,  again,  they  are  greatly  destructive,  where 
their  numbers  are  large,  to  the  kid  and  the  lamb,  and 
poultry.  The  same  care  and  expense  laid  out  in  some  other 
species  of  production,  would  yield  a  greater  profit,  and  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  a  larger  population.  A  town, 
too,  crowded  with  dogs,  is  always  inconvenienced  by  the 
nuisance ;  and  the  bite  of  a  rabid  one  is  so  terrible  in  its 
consequences,  as  to  render  the  diminution  of  the  number, 
in  any  given  place,  desirable.  It  is  in  view  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  political  economy,  production,  population,  and 
consequent  wealth,  that  many  of  the  customs  and  sports 
of  the  natives  are  to  be  viewed ;  and  if  so  viewed,  the  si- 
lent influence  or  the  more  positive  and  open  action  of  the 
missionaries,  in  the  changing  of  the  native  customs,  would 
not  only  not  be  found  fault  with  but  highly  approbated. 

I  reached  my  pleasant  home,  rendered  such  by  my  kind 
hosts,  a  little  after  sunset,  fatigued  by  the  ride,  but  pleased 
with  the  excursion. 


SALT    LAKE. 


The  salt  lake,  lying  some  four  miles  on  the  way  to 
Ewa  from  Honolulu,  is  a  natural  curiosity,  mentioned  to 
the  newly  arrived  as  among  the  objects  worthy  of  a  visit 

48 


248          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

and  a  ride  for  pleasure  and  exercise.  So  I  found  it ;  more 
than  counterbalancing  the  inconvenience  of  wet  boots, 
which  one  is  sure  of  acquiring  while  crossing  a  field  of 
water  in  the  first  part  of  this  ride  from  town.  The  ride 
itself  affords  a  variety  in  plain  and  occasional  steep — 
flocks  of  goats — a  deep  hollow  covered  with  high  and 
crooked  cocoa-nut  trees — Madam  Boki's  plantation — to 
whom,  as  I  was  told,  some  fine  patches  of  taro  and  plan- 
tain trees  and  other  productions  had  belonged,  as  we  were 
passing  through  them,  although  the  worthy  woman's  fune- 
ral was  celebrated  but  a  short  time  previous  to  our  arrival. 
But  the  object  of  interest  is  the  lake,  some  three  or  two 
and  a  half  miles  in  circumference,  reposing  in  a  low  basin 
among  the  broken  hills  of  a  lava  formation,  and  one  edge 
of  it  is  near  the  sea.  As  a  body  of  water  it  possesses  no 
interest ;  the  edges  around  it  are  barren,  and  the  broken 
hills  that  hem  it  in  are  without  verdure,  and  the  water  is 
shallow.  Indeed,  it  is  but  a  large  natural  basin,  in  which, 
by  the  power  of  the  sun's  rays,  reflected  with  additional 
intensity  by  the  surrounding  hills,  the  salt  water  is  evapo- 
rated, and  a  process  of  crystallization  is  continually  going 
on.  The  lake  is  covered  with  a  stratum  of  salt  more  or 
less  thick,  from  a  few  inches  around  its  edges  to  a  foot 
and  more,  and  I  know  not  but  two  or  three  feet,  as  the 
depth  of  the  concavity  of  the  basin  increases  towards  its 
centre.  The  stratum  of  salt  is  mostly  overflowed  by  a  few 
inches  of  water  which  w7as  excessively  bitter  to  the  taste, 
and  nearly  of  blood  heat  in  temperature,  judging  from 
the  sensation  of  touch,  not  having  a  thermometer  with  me. 
The  article  has  been  quarried,  and  considerable  quantities 
taken  from  the  bed — the  excavations  soon  filling  again  in 
the  continual  formation  that  is  going  on.  The  material  is 
deemed  inexhaustible.  As  I  stood  upon  the  ridge  of  the 
hills  that  surround  this  curious  basin,  I  judged  its  level  to 
be  lower  than  the  adjacent  sea,  with  which  the  water  of 
the  sea  must  have  some  communication,  either  by  oozing 
through  the  soil  on  the  side  bordering  on  the  shore,  or  else 
by  some  more  distinct  subterraneous  channel.  The  only 
other  supposition  being,  that  it  is  fed  by  salt  springs.  The 
most  probable  conclusion,  however,  is,  that  the  region 
being  volcanic,  and  the  basin  itself  deemed  with  great 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  249 

probability  to  be  an  extinct  crater,  some  subterranean 
fissure  leads  from  it  to  the  sea,  thus  forming  an  inlet  from 
the  sea  by  some  opening  in  the  lava-beds  which  in  a  for- 
mer period  poured  in  streams  from  this  caldron.  These 
fissures  are  known  to  exist  in  great  numbers  in  the  craters 
of  the  active  volcanoes  of  the  neighboring  island  of  Ha- 
waii ;  and  in  digging  a  well  at  Honolulu,  an  instance  is 
known  of  a  crowbar  passing  out  of  the  hand  of  the  work- 
man as  it  pierced  the  crust  through  which  it  perforated, 
and  was  lost,  as  it  was  heard  to  sink  far  down  in  a  crevice 
of  the  rock  below.  It  is  affirmed  in  the  Hawaiian  Spec- 
tator, in  a  mere  allusion  to  this  lake,  that  it  has  a  commu- 
nication with  the  sea  by  a  hole  at  its  centre.  But  as  the 
same  writer  affirms,  in  the  same  passage,  that  the  bottom 
of  the  lake  is  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  we  conclude  that 
his  affirmation  is  mere  conjecture,  without  positive  exami- 
nation, as  it  must  be  very  obvious  that  such  a  communica- 
tion, if  the  bottom  of  the  lake  were  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  would  soon,  by  forming  an  outlet,  drain  the  lake,  and 
leave  it  as  dry  as  the  arid  lava-cliffs  around  it. 

I  secured  some  very  choice  specimens  of  the  crystal- 
line formation,  continually  in  process  here.  The  wide 
stratum  covering  the  surface  of  these  natural  salt  works, 
is  intersected  by  seams,  resembling  appearances  in  a  field 
of  ice,  resulting  from  the  cracking  of  the  main  body  ;  pro- 
duced here  probably  by  the  streams  of  fresh  water,  run- 
ning, during  the  rainy  season,  into  the  lake,  and  creating, 
by  dissolution,  these  fissures  in  the  riven  stratum.  In 
these  seams  the  crystals  have  space  for  shooting  forth  in 
perfect  formations,  and  fine  specimens  can  be  collected  by 
the  hand,  being  easily  detached,  in  small  masses,  from  the 
more  compact  stratum. 

On  returning,  we  took  a  different  route  from  the  one 
that  guided  us  to  the  lake ;  and  while  crossing  the  hills 
adjacent  to  this  extensive  and  natural  salt  basin,  we  saw  a 
dog  bearing  a  young  kid  in  his  mouth,  and  moving  with 
an  apparent  consciousness  of  his  dereliction  from  all  duty 
of  obedience  to  the  laws,  while  the  penalty,  his  conscience 
seemed  to  tell  him,  would  sorely  be  felt  by  him,  if  once 
caught. 

We  next  struck  upon  a  little  thatched  dwelling,  sur- 


250          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

rounded,  in  an  otherwise  barren  field,  by  immense  clusters 
of  the  prickly  pear,  overtopping,  in  their  luxuriant  growth, 
the  head  of  horse  and  rider,  as  he  came  up  to  their  huge 
and  impenetrable  clusters.  And  wo  to  him  who  shall  at- 
tempt to  pluck  the  curious  fruit  from  the  prickly  plant, 
have  he  buckskins  on  or  other  gloves  to  save  his  palms. 
A  native,  however,  was  soon  near  us,  but  too  late  to  pre- 
serve us  from  an  experience  that  may  serve  us  in  the  future, 
and  plucked,  by  a  little  noose  upon  the  end  of  a  stick,  some 
of  the  fruit  for  us,  and,  with  the  greatest  care  for  the  com- 
fort of  his  own  fingers,  opened  the  outer  rind  and  displayed 
the  gorgeously  beautiful  and  rich  fruit  within,  having  the 
color  of  the  deepest  crimson  melon,  with  the  consistency 
and  sparkling  crystalline  appearance  of  iced  cream,  to  the 
eye  and  taste,  though  possessing  the  property  of  the  water- 
melon without  its  liquid.  We  descended  the  hill  and  came 
upon  a  cluster  of  small  houses,  from  which  the  natives 
poured,  in  a  group  of  some  six  or  eight,  and  one  of  them 
more  neatly  clad  in  her  white  gown  than  the  rest ;  and 
the  cause  of  it  was  written  as  legibly  in  the  thing  she  bore 
in  her  hand,  as  the  same  said  book  narrated  on  its  leaves, 
stories  in  the  Hawaiian  language.  How  truly  do  letters, 
from  the  A,  B,  C  of  the  alphabet,  to  their  must  perfect  and 
learned  combinations,  produce  a  refinement  upon  the  mind 
as  it  ijecomes  familiar  with  their  powers  and  meaning  in 
composition  !  Here,  as  everywhere,  in  its  different  degrees, 
was  seen  the  influence  of  the  missionary  abroad,  as  well 
as  the  schoolmaster  at  home.  These  people  seemed  to  be 
on  the  plantation  of  Madam  Boki,  and  were  very  kind,  as 
they  knocked  down  at  once,  a  passage-way,  that  had  been 
tightly  boarded  up  with  nails,  for  our  convenience  in  tak- 
ing a  nearer  course  across  the  flats  and  taro  fields.  Home, 
and  a  cup  of  tea  at  home  to-night,  were  acceptable,  after  a 
wet  and  late  ride. 

It  is  now  twenty  years  since  the  first  missionary  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  sailed  from  the  city  of  Boston.  During 
this  time  the  number  of  the  missionaries  has  been  in- 
creased, from  time  to  time.  The  nation  was  found  a  peo- 
ple given  to  idolatry,  superstition,  and  the  general  vices  of 
savage  life.  Human  victims,  at  times,  were  sacrificed ; 
and  the  conquered  foe  in  war  sometimes  formed  a  feast  for 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  251 

the  victors.  Their  language,  barren  in  general  terms  but 
copious  in  nominals,  had  but  a  verbal  existence.  The 
contrast  presented  to  us  at  this  time,  is  a  nation,  who  have 
adopted,  as  a  whole  people,  the  Christian  religion.  An 
idol,  as  a  curiosity  for  a  cabinet,  can  scarcely  be  found. 
Missionary  families  are  located  on  all  the  islands.  Com- 
mon schools  have  been  established  throughout  the  districts 
on  the  different  islands,  under  the  care  of  native  teachers, 
more  or  less  competent ;  and  station  schools,  at  the  differ- 
ent residences  of  the  missionaries,  from  which  the  native 
teachers  are  principally  supplied.  Select  schools  and 
boarding  schools  for  boys  and  girls ;  and  a  high  school, 
college,  or  seminary,  as  it  may  be  called,  in  its  infancy, 
with  a  number  of  promising  scholars,  and  with  instructers 
of  liberal  education  to  take  them  on  in  the  different  branches 
of  the  sciences  and  arts,  as  their  capacities,  purposes,  and 
the  course  of  improvement  in  the  elevation  of  the  people 
in  religion  and  civilization,  shall  demand  and  render  prac- 
ticable. The  Hawaiian  tongue  has  been  reduced  to  a 
written  language ;  the  Bible  translated  into  the  native 
tongue;  a  native  newspaper  printed  ;  elementary  books,  for 
the  schools,  prepared  and  published,  including  Children's 
Lessons,  Children's  Teacher,  Hawaiian  Grammar,  Arith- 
metic, Lineal  Drawing.  Algebra.  Trigonometry,  Surveying, 
Hawaiian  History,  Scripture  History  and  Geography, 
Church  History,  Hymns,  Tracts,  Music,  Nautical  Almanac, 
etc.,  etc. ;  the  printing  of  which,  with  other  works  not 
mentioned,  principally  in  the  Hawaiian  language,  amount- 
ed during  the  last  thirteen  months  only,  to  eleven  millions 
four  hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-six  pages. 

Eighteen  native  churches  have  been  organized  on  the  difc 
ferent  islands.  School-houses  and  church-edifices,  several 
of  the  latter  large  and  stone  buildings,  have  been  erected. 

And  as  the  contemplated  end  of  all  these  efforts  has 
been  the  religious  and  eternal  welfare  of  this  people,  it 
must  cheer  the  heart  of  every  true  lover  of  his  species,  and 
thrill  the  bosom  of  the  Christian,  to  learn  the  hopeful  ac- 
complishment of  this  end  even  beyond  the  expectation  of 
the  most  sanguine,  from  the  following  additional  facts. 

During  the  last  year  ten  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
48* 


252  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD* 

twenty-Jive  persons  of  the  native  population  of  these  islands 
have  been  added,  by  profession,  to  the  communion  of  these 
Christian  churches  ;  and  sixteen  thousand  five  hundred 
and  eighty-seven,  from  the  commencement  of  the  mission. 
The  language  of  the  missionaries  is  this :  "  The  past 
has  been  a  year  of  unexampled  prosperity  to  the  Redeem- 
er's kingdom  throughout  the  islands.  At  the  close  of  the 
last  year,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  going  on  in  a 
most  glorious  manner  at  nearly  all  the  stations ;  and  the 
work  so  commenced  has,  to  the  praise  of  Divine  grace, 
advanced  with  steady  progress.  Persons  of  all  ages  have 
been  subjects  of  the  gracious  visitations  of  the  Spirit,  from 
opening  childhood  to  decrepit  old  age.  The  boarding 
school  and  Sabbath  school  scholar,  together  with  many 
who  had  been  neglected,  have  sought,  and,  it  is  hoped, 
found  a  Saviour — or  rather,  they  have  been  found  by  him 
and.  gathered  into  his  fold.  That  every  one  apparently 
renewed  by  grace  will  prove  to  have  been  born  again, 
cannot  be  expected ;  but  we  may  confidently  hope  that 
great  numbers  of  those  who  have  this  year  professedly 
turned  to  the  Lord,  will  be  found  in  the  last  day  to  be 
truly  his  people." 

FRENCH    AFFAIR    AT    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

I  would  willingly  leave  the  reader  of  the  foregoing 
sketches  of  the  date  since  our  arrival  at  the  island  of  Oahu, 
to  form  his  opinion  of  the  merits  and  the  success  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  mission,  from  the  impression  he  has 
gained  in  their  perusal.  I  am  sure  it  would  not  be  too 
vivid  ;  the  light,  however  faintly  as  yet  breaking  over  this 
but  lately  benighted  people,  has  been  reflected  in  descrip- 
tion, but  dimly  on  these  pages,  in  comparison  with  the 
brightness  of  the  divine  beam  which  has  been  streaming 
among  the  deep  shades  that  enveloped  the  Hawaiian  peo- 
ple, when  they  were  first  contemplated  by  the  eye  of  the 
coming  missionary.  And  he  alone  can  draw  the  contrast 
in  its  depth  of  shadow  and  welcome  and  relieving  light. 
And  while  the  nation  has  far  yet  to  go  in  its  course  to 
reach  the  intelligence  and  refinement  of  a  cultivated  peo- 
ple, what  nation  like  this,  in  the  history  of  civilization  and 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  253 

Christianity,  ever  made  so  rapid  a  step  from  savage  life 
and  heathen  superstitions  to  the  possession  of  civic  and 
Christian  institutions  ? 

The  story  of  our  visit  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  how- 
ever, would  be  incomplete  were  these  notes  in  connection 
with  it  to  be  ended  here.  My  private  feelings  in  connec- 
tion with  some  who  may  be  pained  by  the  public  exposure 
of  transactions  which  will  reflect  no  honor  on  some  of  the 
foreign  residents,  and  particularly  those  in  authority  from 
the  English  and  French  governments,  would  lead  me  to 
pass  over  in  silence  the  account  of  the  late  visit  of  the 
French  frigate  1'Artemise,  and  transactions  connected 
with  it,  and  the  associate  action,  equally  discreditable  to 
the  persons  concerned,  previously  to  her  arrival.  But 
personal  feelings  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  cause  of  truth, 
while  the  high-handed  and  vicious  measures  which  are 
now  to  be  noticed,  merit,  and  shall  receive,  rebuke. 

We  had  heard  much  in  connection  with  the  action  of 
the  American  missionaries  to  these  islands  before  our  arri- 
val at  Honolulu,  and  were  assured  that  we  should  hear  a 
great  deal  more  on  our  arrival ;  that  there  had  always 
been  a  party  here  opposed  to  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
American  missionaries  upon  the  native  population,  and  that 
this  party  was  ever  ready  to  repeat  stories,  and  re-affirm 
them,  to  the  discredit  of  the  mission.  But  the  testimony 
of  all  disinterested  persons,  and  the  inquiries  of  all  our 
national  ships  when  touching  here,  after  proper  and  con- 
siderate examination  of  the  state  of  things  as  they  really 
exist,  and  have  been  conducted,  gave  unqualified  testi- 
mony to  the  happy  influence  of  the  mission  upon  the  na- 
tives, and  acquitted  the  missionaries  of  all  just  cause  of 
censure.  We  were  prepared,  therefore,  to  hear  much  de- 
famation from  one  quarter,  and  expected  to  witness  from 
our  own  inspection  the  happy  influences  of  Christian  efforts 
upon  a  population  but  lately  a  savage  and  heathen  people. 
And  by  making  due  allowance  for  the  imperfection  of 
all  human  institutions,  and  the  slow  progress  of  all  bar- 
barous nations  from  their  savage  state  to  civil  life,  as  de- 
lineated in  all  history  of  the  past,  we  believed  we  should 
find  evidence  of  even  a  remarkable  and  almost  unhoped- 
for success  in  the  action  of  the  mission. 


254  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

But  we  were  not  prepared  to  hear,  that,  by  misrepre- 
sentations of  religious  hate  and  self-interest  in  contraband 
merchandise,  a  French  frigate  had  been  secured  to  visit 
this  port,  to  redress  falsely  affirmed  insults,  and  to  secure 
to  a  French  consulate  advantages  in  a  nefarious  trade. 
And  when  the  course  pursued  by  the  captain  of  the  French 
frigate,  under  the  ex  parte  representations  of  the  French 
consul,  towards  this  helpless  people ;  and  yet  more  par- 
ticularly towards  an  intelligent,  devoted,  and  most  worthy 
band  of  Christian  and  American  missionaries,  was  learned, 
an  indignant  burst  of  honorable  displeasure  expressed  it- 
self in  the  feelings  and  from  the  lips  of  most  of  the  officers 
of  the  American  squadron. 

This  French  ship  VArtemise,  as  she  is  called,  arrived 
off  the  harbor  of  Honolulu,  Thursday,  July  9,  1839,  about 
two  months  previous  to  our  arrival,  and  her  captain  ad- 
dressed the  following  manifesto  (embracing,  as  will  be 
shown,  affirmations  contrary  to  facts  in  several  particulars, 
and  where  coincident  with  facts,  in  most  particulars  justi- 
fiable on  the  part  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  government)  to 
the  king  of  these  islands,  on  the  same  day  of  his  anchoring. 

MANIFESTO, 

Addressed  to  the  King  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  by  Capt.  La  Place, 
commanding  the  French  frigate  1'Artemise,  in  the  name  of  his 
Government. 

"  His  majesty,  the  king  of  the  French,  having  com- 
manded me  to  come  to  Honolulu  in  order  to  put  an  end, 
either  by  force  or  persuasion,  to  the  ill  treatment  to  which 
the  French  have  been  victims  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  I 
hasten,  first,  to  employ  this  last  means  as  the  most  confor- 
mable to  the  political,  noble,  and  liberal  system  pursued  by 
France  against  the  powerless,  hoping  thereby  that  I  shall 
make  the  principal  chiefs  of  these  islands  understand  how 
fatal  the  conduct  which  they  pursue  towards  her  will  be  to 
their  interests,  and  perhaps  cause  disasters  to  them  and  to 
their  country,  should  they  be  obstinate  in  their  perseve- 
rance. Misled  by  perfidious  counsellors  ;  deceived  by  the 
excessive  indulgence  which  the  French  government  has 
extended  towards  them  for  several  years,  they  are  un- 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  255 

doubtedly  ignorant  how  potent  it  is,  and  that  in  the  world 
there  is  not  a  power  which  is  capable  of  preventing  it 
from  punishing  its  enemies ;  otherwise  they  would  have 
endeavored  to  merit  its  favor,  or,  not  to  incur  its  displea- 
sure, as  they  have  done  in  ill-treating  the  French.  They 
would  have  faithfully  put  into  execution  the  treaties,  in 
place  of  violating,  them  as  soon  as  the  fear  disappeared, 
as  well  as  the  ships  of  war  which  had  caused  it,  whereby 
bad  intentions  had  been  constrained.  In  fine,  they  will 
comprehend  that  to  persecute  the  Catholic  religion,  to 
tarnish  it  with  the  name  of  idolatry,  and  to  expel,  under 
this  absurd  pretext,  the  French  from  this  archipelago,  was 
to  offer  an  insult  to  France  and  to  its  sovereign. 

"  It  is,  without  doubt,  the  formal  intention  of  France 
that  the  king  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  be  powerful,  inde- 
pendent of  every  foreign  power  which  he  considers  his 
ally  ;  but  she  also  demands  that  he  conform  to  the  usages 
of  civilized  nations.  Now,  amongst  the  latter  there  is  not 
even  one  which  does  not  permit  in  its  territory  the  free 
toleration  of  all  religions ;  and  yet,  at  the  Sandwich  Isl- 
ands, the  French  are  not  allowed  publicly  the  exercise  of 
theirs,  while  Protestants  enjoy  therein  the  most  extensive 
privileges ;  for  these  all  favors,  for  those  the  most  cruel 
persecutions.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  being  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  nations,  insulting  to  those  of  Catholics,  can  no 
longer  continue,  and  I  am  sent  o  put  an  end  to  it.  Con- 
sequently I  demand  in  the  name  of  my  government, 

*'  1st.  That  the  Catholic  worship  be  declared  free 
throughout  all  the  dominions  subject  to  the  king  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands  ;  that  the  members  of  this  religious  faith 
shall  enjoy  in  them  all  the  privileges  granted  to  Protestants. 

"  2d.  That  a  site  for  a  Catholic  church  be  given  by  the 
government  at  Honolulu,  a  port  frequented  by  the  French, 
and  that  this  church  be  ministered  by  priests  of  their  nation. 

"  3d.  That  all  Catholics  imprisoned  on  account  of  reli- 
gion since  the  last  persecution  extended  to  the  French 
missionaries,  be  immediately  set  at  liberty. 

"  4th.  That  the  king  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  deposit  in 
the  hands  of  the  Captain  of  the  1'Artemise  the  sum  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  as  a  guarantee  of  his  future  con- 
duct towards  France,  which  sum  the  government  will 


256  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

restore  to  him  when  it  shall  consider  that  the  accompany- 
ing treaty  will  be  faithfully  complied  with. 

"  5th.  That  the  treaty  signed  by  the  king  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  as  well  as  the  sum  above  mentioned,  be 
conveyed  on  board  the  frigate  PArtemise  by  one  of  the 
principal  chiefs  of  the  country ;  and  also  that  the  batte- 
ries of  Honolulu  do  salute  the  French  flag  with  twenty- 
one  guns,  which  will  be  returned  by  the  frigate. 

"  These  are  the  equitable  conditions,  at  the  price  of 
which,  the  king  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  shall  conserve 
friendship  with  France.  I  am  induced  to  hope,  that,  un- 
derstanding better  how  necessary  it  is  for  the  prosperity 
of  his  people  and  the  preservation  of  his  power,  he  will 
remain  in  peace  with  the  whole  world,  and  hasten  to 
subscribe  to  them,  and  thus  imitate  the  laudable  example 
which  the  queen  of  Tahiti  has  given  in  permitting  the 
free  toleration  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  her  dominions ; 
but,  if  contrary  to  my  expectations,  it  should  be  other- 
wise, and  the  king  and  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  led  on  by  bad  counsellors,  refuse  to  sign  the 
treaty  which  I  present,  war  will  immediately  commence, 
and  all  the  devastations,  all  the  calamities,  which  may  be 
the  unhappy  but  necessary  results,  will  be  imputed  to 
themselves  alone,  and  they  must  also  pay  the  losses  which 
the  aggrieved  foreigners,  in  these  circumstances,  shall 
have  a  right  to  reclaim. 

"The  10th  July,  (9th  according  to  date  here,)  1839. 
Captain  of  the  French  frigate  1'Artemise. 

"C.  LA  PLACE." 

At  the  same  time,  communications  were  sent  to  the 
American  and  to  the  British  consul.  The  following  is  a 
translation  of  the  note  to  the  British  consul : 

Official  letter  from  Captain  La  Place  of  the  French  frigate  to  the 
British  Consul. 

TRANSLATION. 

"  MONSIEUR  LE  CONSUL, — 

"  Having  been  sent  by  my  government  to  put  an  qnd  to 
the  ill  treatment  to  which,  under  the  false  pretexts  of  Ca- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  257 

tholicity,  the  French  have  been  subjected  for  several  years 
in  this  archipelago,  my  intention  is  to  commence  hostili- 
ties the  13th  July,  (which  is  the  twelfth  of  your  date,)  at 
12  A.  M.,  against  the  king  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  should 
he  refuse  to  accede  immediately  to  the  just  conditions  of 
the  treaty  presented  by  me,  the  clauses  of  which  I  explain 
in  the  Manifesto  of  which  I  have  the  honor  of  sending 
you  a  copy.  Should  this  chief,  contrary  to  my  expecta- 
tion, persist  in  his  blindness,  or  to  express  myself  more 
plainly,  to  follow  the  advice  of  interested  counsellors  to 
deceive  himself,  I  will  be  constrained,  in  this  case,  to  em- 
ploy the  strong  means  of  force,  which  I  have  at  my  dis- 
position. I  consider  it  my  duty  to  inform  you,  Monsieur 
le  Consul,  that  I  offer  asylum  and  protection  on  board 
the  frigate  PArtemise  to  those  of  your  compatriots  who 
may  apprehend  danger,  under  these  circumstances,  on 
the  part  of  the  natives,  either  for  their  persons  or  pro- 
perty. 

"  Receive,  Monsieur  le  Consul,  the  assurance  of  the 
very  distinguished  considerations  of  your  devoted  servant, 

"  Post-captain  commanding  the  ship  PArtemise, 

"C.LAPLACE." 

If  Captain  La  Place  had  paused  here,  however  the 
Americans  might  have  called  in  question  his  courtesy, 
they  would  not  legitimately  have  complained.  But  it 
was  not  so.  He  sent  a  letter  similar  to  the  last  to  the 
American  Consul,  offering  him  and  some  of  his  fellow 
citizens  protection,  with  the  following  additional  clause, 
excluding  others  from  the  offer,  and  marking  them  out  as 
the  objects  on  which  his  vengeance  and  arms  were  to  fall, 
in  the  event  of  an  attack  upon  the  town. 

"  I  do  not,  however,  include  in  this  class  the  individuals 
who,  although  born,  it  is  said,  in  the  United  States,  make 
a  part  of  the  Protestant  clergy  of  the  chief  of  this  archi- 
pelago, direct  his  councils,  influence  his  conduct,  and  are 
the  true  authors  of  the  insults  given  by  him  to  France. 

FOR  ME  THEY  COMPOSE  A  PART  OF  THE  NATIVE  POPULATION, 
AND  MUST  UNDERGO  THE  UNHAPPY  CONSEQUENCES  OF  A  WAR 
WHICH  THEY  SHALL  HAVE  BROUGHT  ON  THIS  COUNTRY.' 


258          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

What  is  the  exhibition  of  things  presented  to  us  here  ? 
An  armed  French  ship  anchoring  within  cannon-shot  dis- 
tance of  the  town  of  Honolulu,  with  every  means  of  com- 
municating with  a  helpless  and  harmless  government,  but, 
without  asking  for  any  explanation,  presenting  ex  parte 
accusations,  and  making  peremptory  demands  of  the  sur- 
render of  the  sovereign's  prerogative,  the  cession  of  lands, 
and  the  deposit  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  as  security  for 
the  future  obsequious  obedience  of  his  Hawaiian  majesty, 
Kammahamaha  III.,  to  the  king  of  the  French  people  ! 
Nor  is  this  all — nor  is  it  one  half.  Along  those  streets  of 
Honolulu,  and  in  full  view  and  reach  of  the  shotted  guns 
of  a  French  ship  of  war,  are  a  number  of  interesting  fami- 
lies, who,  for  their  intelligence,  urbanity,  and  generous 
self-devotion  to  the  cause  of  philanthropy  and  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  would  do  honor  to  any  Christian  and  civil- 
ized nation,  as  they  have  abundantly  honored,  as  American 
citizens,  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  but  now  they 
are  denounced,  expatriated,  proscribed,  and  pointed  out 
by  a  French  post-captain,  as  the  specific  mark,  in  case  of 
hostilities,  for  the  "  devastations,"  "  calamities,"  insults  and 
horrors,  threatened  by  cannonading,  and  by  the  landing 
of  a  lawless  crew  from  a  French  man-of-war.  Vive  le 
roi  !  Vive  la  belle  nation  !  Vive  la  France  chevaleresque  ! 
Here  were  women  and  children  of  inoffensive  families, 
comprising  the  greater  part  of  the  female  population  of 
the  foreign  residents,  to  whom  it  was  the  part  of  a  gallant 
and  brave  officer  to  have  hastened  to  offer  his  protection, 
rather  than  to  commit  them  to  the  merciless  fortunes  of 
war  not  only,  but,  by  a  written  manifesto,  to  mark  them 
out  as  the  particular  objects  of  displeasure,  who  are  to 
await  the  massacre  and  rapine  of  an  attack  which,  it  is 
said,  the  French  commander  affirmed  should  be  carried 
"  to  the  knife." 

But,  it  was  American  citizens  who  were  thus  denoun- 
ced, expatriated,  proscribed,  and  threatened.  Here,  then, 
the  French  commander  and  his  consulate  adviser  have 
trod  on  ground  that  will  burn  them  before  they  are  over 
it.  And  what  American  citizen,  looking  upon  such  an 
insult  to  the  broad  seal  affixed  to  the  protections  of  his 
fellow-citizens  abroad,  does  not  rise  indignant,  and  de- 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  259 

mand  that  a  proper  investigation  and  reparation  be  made 
for  an  inanity  done  to  the  citizenship  of  his  nation? 
And  who,,  without  a  blush,  can  read  the  insulting  para- 
graph,-, addressed  to  the  American  consul  by  Captain  La 
Place,  offering  him  and  some  of  his  "  compatriots"  a  pro- 
tection which  was  withheld  from  others  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  ?  The  insulting  note  should  have  been  hurled 
back  with  the  proud  declaration,  that  he  accepted  not, 
and  needed  not,  any  protection  which  was  withheld  from 
other  American  citizens ;  and  that  neither  they  nor  him- 
self wished  for  any  other  shield  than  they  would  find  be- 
neath the  known  folds  of  their  own  nation's  flag. 

It  requires  that  persons  should  be  placed  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  American  missionaries,  rightly  to  esti- 
mate their  feelings,  when  suddenly  appears  in  the  harbor 
a  foreign  man-of-war,  threatening  war  to  the  nation,  and 
offering  protection  to  all  other  foreign  residents  excepting 
themselves ;  and  not  only  so,  but  particularly  pointing  them 
out  as  criminally  associated  with  the  government,  and  the 
legitimate  authors  of  the  insults  which  the  foreign  ship 
came  to  redress ;  and  declaring  that  THEY  would  be  to  the 
invading  force  as  a  part  of  the  native  population.  The 
missionaries  feared  nothing  from  the  native  populace — it 
was  the  bayonets,  the  rapine,  and  the  insult  of  a  French 
crew,  with  themselves  already  pointed  out  as  the  game  to 
be  hunted  down,  from  which  they  wished  protection.  And 
in  the  hour  of  their  distress,  they  gathered  with  their  fami- 
lies— wives  and  children — to  the  rooms  of  the  repository, 
and  with  fasting  and  prayer  asked  the  protection  of  heaven 
for  themselves,  and  the  helpless  mother  and  her  offspring. 
Agitated  and  distressed,  away  from  the  strong  arm  of  the 
nation  whose  protection,  although  they  bore  the  scroll  of 
their  citizenship  with  them,  they  could  not  now  seek — 
proscribed  in  a  written  document,  and  pointed  out  as  the 
particular  objects  of  vengeance — they  offered  up  their  de- 
votion and  reassured  themselves  in  the  protection  of  their 
God.  Behold  them,  citizens  of  the  United  States  !  Has 
it  come  to  this,  that  the  sealed  protection  of  your  country 
avails  you  nothing  ?  Behold  the  gathered  band,  who  have 
left  far  behind  them  privileges,  and  friends,  and  refine- 
ment, for  a  life  of  benevolent  action  among  a  benighted 

49 


260  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

people,  who  have  learned  to  appreciate  their  action,  but 
are  a  small  nation,  with  their  inexperience  and  lively 
imaginations  depicting  to  themselves  the  terrors  that  may 
soon  await  them.  The  mother  looks  upon  her  offspring 
with  the  trembling  heart  of  female  dependence,  and  sheds 
her  tears  over  them  as  she  thinks  of  the  possibility  of  being 
left  to  the  mercies  of  an  attacking  enemy  that  has  declared 
them  to  be  his  foes.  See  it,  American  citizens  !  your  fel- 
low compatriots  not  only,  but  women  and  children  of  fam- 
ilies, than  whom,  in  the  connections  of  some  of  them, 
America  boasts  not  prouder  in  antiquity  and  influence, 
marked  out  as  objects  of  insult  and  massacre  for  a  French 
crew.  Is  this  to  be  endured — this  to  be  passed  over? 
No  !  there  is  not  one  of  you,  in  whose  bosom  the  pure 
blood  of  American  freemen  courses,  untainted  in  senti- 
ment and  alliance  with  a  foreign  and  popish  hierarch,  but 
will  kindle  at  the  insult,  and  ask  due  reparation  for  such 
measures  in  high  disregard  of  the  rights  of  American  citi- 
zenship. Let  a  few  examples  like  this  pass  unnoticed,  and 
your  government  parchment  and  your  national  bunting 
shall  both  become,  the  one  a  useless  scroll  save  only  to 
mortify  and  to  disgrace,  the  other  a  floating  emblem  on  the 
breeze,  for  the  taunt  rather  than  for  the  respect  and  con- 
siderate deference  of  other  nations. 

The  visit  of  the  French  frigate  1'Artemise  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  was  an  incident  of  deep  interest,  in  its  bear- 
ing on  the  rights  of  American  missionaries  abroad ;  and 
it  merits,  in  connection  with  the  action  of  Captain  La  Place 
and  the  principles  and  affirmations  embraced  in  his  mani- 
festo, an  extended  consideration.  I  have  therefore  treated 
at  length  the  high-handed  measures  enacted  at  the  islands, 
which,  at  least,  involve  in  disgrace  the  French  consul,  if 
it  touches  not  the  honor  of  the  post-captain.  But  it  will 
be  impossible  to  condense  my  manuscript  so  as  to  intro- 
duce it  into  these  volumes.  1  shall  therefore  reserve  it  for 
a  volume  by  itself,  to  follow  as  a  sequel  to  the  Flag  Ship. 
It  will  contain  various  official  papers  of  the  island  govern- 
ment, correspondence  of  Commodore  Read,  the  American 
consul,  and  others,  and  an  exposure  of  the  facts  in  the 
case — all  going  to  show  the  false  positions  assumed  in  the 
manifesto,  the  unjustifiable  measures  of  the  French,  and  a 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          261 

defence  of  the  missionaries,  and  an  assertion  of  their 
rights,  which  will,  or  which  should,  exhibit  these  late  trans- 
actions to  the  disgrace  of  the  opposers  of  the  missionary 
action  at  the  islands,  and  show  that,  instead  of  exposure 
to  the  force  of  a  foreign  power,  to  defamation,  and  to  in- 
sult, the  missionaries  merit  the  protection  of  their  own  gov- 
ernment, and  the  approbation  and  the  admiration  of  all  the 
good,  and  the  world. 

"  For  me,"  says  the  post-captain,  "  the  missionaries  com- 
pose a  part  of  the  native  population."  "  FOR  ME  !"  Here 
is  proscription,  with  a  vengeance  !  A  French  post-captain 
taking  upon  himself  to  identify  American  citizens  abroad 
with  the  nation  towards  which  he  threatens  immediate  hos- 
tilities; and  declaring  that  they  are  the  particular  persons 
who  have  brought  disaster  on  the  people,  and  shall  be  given 
up  to  the  common  ravages  of  a  hostile  attack.  "For  me, 
they  compose  a  part  of  the  native  population  /"  Let  it  be 
known,  ,to  the  honor*  of  American  female  character,  at 
home  and  abroad,  that  when  hostilities  had  ceased,  and  the 
French  commander  had  signified  that  he  would  pay  his 
compliments  to  the  ladies  of  the  mission,  if  invited,  they 
deemed  it  beneath  the  propriety  of  an  American  matron 
to  open  their  society  to  an  officer  who  had  used  the  lan- 
guage contained  in  the  letter  to  the  American  consul.  It 
is  said  that  an  English  officer  boasted  to  Franklin,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  revolution,  that,  with  a  thousand 
men,  he  would  march  from  Massachusetts  Bay  to  Georgia. 
"  The  women  of  America  would  whip  you  with  their  broom- 
sticks" was  Franklin's  reply.  The  daughters  are  not  un- 
worthy of  their  mothers. 

But  I  shall  pass  from  this  subject,  so  far  as  these  volumes 
are  concerned,  by  simply  introducing  a  document  signed 
by  the  ward-room  officers  of  our  squadron,  expressing  their 
sentiments  towards  the  American  missionaries,  their  unlim- 
ited confidence  in  their  sincerity,  and  their  admiration  of 
their  success.  They  felt  a  becoming  displeasure  towards 

>the  parties  concerned  in  furthering  the  measures  of  the 
French  consul,  and  of  their  own  accord  gave  the  mission- 
aries the  accompanying  paper.  It  was  to  head  a  pamph- 
let containing  other  documents,  which,  together,  exhibit  in 
their  true  light  the  action  of  the  French  at  the  islands  ;  the 


262  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

severe  and  cruel  necessity  of  submission  to  which  the  na- 
tive government  was  reduced  ;  the  entire  innocence  of  the 
missionaries  of  the  charges  brought  against  them  in  the 
manifesto ;  and  the  hate  and  inveteracy  of  a  miserable 
clique,  who  have  long  been  the  persecutors  of  these  worthy 
and  devoted  men  and  women,  whose  praise  is  written  in 
their  self-sacrificing,  benevolent,  and  successful  action. 

"We,  the  undersigned,  officers  of  the  United  States 
East  India  squadron,  having,  upon  our  arrival  at  this 
place,  heard  various  rumors  in  relation  and  derogatory  to 
the  American  mission  at  these  islands,  feel  it  to  be  due,  not 
only  to  the  missionaries  themselves,  but  to  the  cause  of 
truth  and  justice,  that  the  most  unqualified  testimony  should 
be  given  in  the  case  ;  and  do,  therefore,  order  one  thou- 
sand copies  of  the  annexed  article  and  correspondence  to 
be  printed  for  gratuitous  distribution,  as  being  the  most 
effectual  mode  of  settling  this  agitated  question  in  the 
minds  of  an  intelligent  and  liberal  public. 

"  Being  most  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  persons 
composing  the  Protestant  mission  of  these  islands  are 
American  citizens,  and,  as  such,  entitled  to  the  protection 
which  our  government  has  never  withheld  ;  and  with  un- 
wavering confidence  in  the  justice  which  has  ever  charac- 
terized it,  we  rest  assured  that  any  insult  offered  to  this 
unoffending  class  will  be  promptly  redressed. 

"  It  is  readily  admitted  that  there  may  be  in  the  opera- 
tion of  this,  as  in  all  other  systems  in  which  feeble  man 
has  any  agency,  some  objectionable  peculiarities ;  still,  as  a 
system,  it  is  deemed  comparatively  unexceptionable,  and 
believed  to  have  been  pursued  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  professed  principles  of  the  society  which  it  represents ; 
and  it  would  seem  that  the  salutary  influence  exerted  by 
the  mission  on  the  native  population,  ought  to  commend 
it  to  the  confidence  and  kind  feelings  of  all  interested  in 
the  dissemination  of  good  principles. 

GEORGE  A.  MAGRUDER,  Lieutenant. 

ANDREW  H.  FOOT,  Lieutenant. 

JOHN  W.  TURK,  Lieutenant. 

THOMAS  TURNER,  Lieutenant. 

JAMES  S.  PALMER,  Lieutenant 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  263 

EDWARD  R.  THOMPSON,  Lieutenant. 
AUGUSTUS  H.  KELTY,  Lieutenant. 
GEORGE  B.  MINOR,  Lieutenant. 
JOHN  HASLETT,  Surgeon  of  the  Feet. 
JOHN  A.  LOCKWOOD,  Surgeon. 
DANGERFIELD  FAUNTLEROY,  Purser. 
FITCH  W.  TAYLOR,  Chaplain. 
ROBERT  P.  PEGRAM,  Master. 
JOSEPH  BEALE,  Assistant  Surgeon. 
J.  HENSHAW  BELCHER,  Prof,  of  Mathematics. 
ALEXANDER  G.  PENDLETON,  Prof  of  Math. 
"Honolulu,  Oahu  November  1st,  1839." 

The  order  that  all  officers  should  be  on  board  Saturday 
evening,  the  second  of  November,  thirty  days  after  our 
reaching  Honolulu  Roads,  gave  to  all  the  assurance  that 
our  ships  were  again  to  move  on  their  way  to  our  next 
stopping-place  ;  and  that  in  a  few  hours  more  we  were  to 
leave  the  island  where  we  had  paused  for  health,  for 
friendly  intercourse,  and  reciprocated  civilities.  I  had 
taken  leave  of  a  number  of  friends  during  the  day,  and 
notes  of  farewell  went  to  others,  who  will  very  long  be 
remembered  in  the  many  and  agreeable  associations  con- 
nected with  Honolulu.  On  Monday  morning  early,  the 
John  Adams  was  standing  out  from  the  inner  harbor,  with 
our  own  ship  leading  the  way  from  the  outer  roads,  to  sea. 
A  few  hours  more,  and  the  island  of  Oahu  was  lost  in  the 
distance. 

We  are  assured  the  visit  of  the  East  India  squadron 
will  not  soon  be  forgotten  at  Honolulu,  nor  throughout  the 
Sandwich  Islands ;  and  are  happy  in  the  declaration  of 
the  missionaries,  in  a  kind  farewell  note  sent  to  the  Com- 
modore, that  the  ships  will  bear  with  them  more  than  the 
kind  wishes  of  those  we  are  leaving,  while  they  shall  be 
sailing  on  their  course  as  the  receding  but  remembered 
objects  of  their  prayers. 

*49 


264  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 


SECTION   IX. 

SOCIETY  ISLANDS. 

Island  of  Tahiti.  Papeete  Bay.  Queen  Pomare.  Captain  Cook.  Point 
Venus.  Ride  to  Mattavai  Bay.  Tea  at  Mr.  Pritchard's.  Sunday  ashore. 
Two  Sundays  come  together.  The  Author  addresses  the  Natives,  and 
the  Chiefs  respond.  The  Frigate  1'Artemise  at  the  Society  Islands.  Letter 
from  the  English  Consul  to  the  Author.  Coral  Forest.  Ships  leave  the 
Society  Islands. 

AFTER  a  passage  of  thirty-one  days,  we  reached  the 
harbor  of  Papeete,  island  of  Tahiti,  without  incident  of 
sufficient  interest  for  record,  save  the  crossing,  for  the  third 
time,  the  equator.  It  was  a  fair  night,  November  the 
twenty-seventh,  and  in  longitude  141°  W.  We  had  been 
previously  beating  to  the  windward,  to  make  our  easting, 
and  experienced  much  rainy  weather.  But  this  was  all 
now  left  behind  us,  as  our  ship  was  standing  south  with  a 
fine  breeze  and  clear  sky,  and  the  band  giving  forth  its 
mellow  strains  as  the  beautiful  Columbia  was  waltzing,  in 
grace  and  symmetry,  across  the  line.  Still  getting  easting, 
in  a  few  days  we  made  one  of  the  Marquesan  islands,  and 
thence  took  our  departure  southwesterly  for  Tahiti.  The 
last  three  days  was  a  fine  run,  and  the  "  Queen  of  the 
Pacific,"  as  this  green  isle  of  the  ocean  has  been  called, 
rose  to  our  view,  when  we  were  still  leagues  at  sea.  We 
approached  it  from  the  northeast,  passing  Point  Venus ; 
and  gaining  a  pilot  at  the  report  of  our  gun  off  the  Bay 
of  Papeete,  stood  in  through  the  narrow  and  fearful  pass, 
for  a  frigate,  to  the  coral  in-hemmed  basin,  on  whose  still 
bosom  the  Columbia  is  now  peacefully  lying. 

The  ship  having  passed  through  the  narrow  break  in 
the  reef,  which  forms  the  pass  to  the  harbor,  now  rests  at 
her  anchor  near  in  to  the  shore,  in  deep  water,  with  num- 
bers of  coral  islets  rising  in  different  parts  of  the  basin  so 
as  to  appear  on  the  surface  at  low  water ;  while  the  outer 
reef,  with  the  exception  of  the  narrow  break,  sweeps  its 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  265 

circular  wall  of  protection,  over  which  the  foam  breaks 
in  its  beautiful  line  of  white,  like  a  bead  of  nature's  filla- 
gree  work,  inlaying  its  narrow  silver  line  either  way,  on 
the  blue  field  of  the  deep. 

The  present  queen,  Pomare,  sovereign  of  the  Society 
Islands,  is  residing  some  twenty  or  thirty  miles  from  Pa- 
peete. The  late  visit  of  the  French  frigate  1'Artemise 
has  made  her  alarmed  at  the  approach  of  men-of-war, 
and  it  is  said  that  those  in  authority  of  our  own  nation — 
the  present  and  the  ex-consul — have  used  language  to  her 
majesty  that  has  made  her  apprehend  danger  from  the 
visit  of  our  squadron.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the 
representations  of  these  functionaries  to  the  department 
at  home,  the  United  States  government  has  not  thought  it 
fit  to  specify  any  grievances  to  be  redressed  by  the  arm 
of  power.  The  particular  and  the  only  object  that  called 
our  squadron  to  these  islands,  was,  besides  the  showing 
of  a  naval  force  in  these  seas,  to  inquire  into  the  assault 
made  upon  the  persons  of  the  late  American  consul  and 
his  wife,  with  the  intent  to  murder  and  of  robbery,  by 
ruffians,  who  were  to  be  dealt  with  as  the  circumstances 
of  the  case  in  evidence  should  require. 

The  name  of  the  lamented  and  gifted  Cook  will  always 
be  associated  with  the  islands  of  these  seas,  and  most  par- 
ticularly with  the  Sandwich  and  the  Society  Islands,  the 
first  as  being  their  discoverer,  and  the  spot  where  his  life 
was  so  abruptly  terminated ;  and  the  Society  Islands,  as 
the  point  of  his  visits  and  scientific  observations.  It  was 
at  Point  Venus,  seven  miles  from  our  anchorage,  where 
Captain  Cook  fixed  his  tent  on  shore  for  the  purpose  of 
making  his  observations  on  the  transit  of  Venus  in  1769. 
The  point  derives  its  name  from  this  circumstance.  A 
beautiful  ride  and  the  residence  of  a  missionary  family  at 
the  spot,  with  its  many  associations  of  interest,  induced 
me  to  accept  the  proffer  of  a  horse  from  the  English  con- 
sul and  the  company  of  Mr.  Johnson  for  a  visit  to  this 
point.  The  road  is  an  embowered  way  nearly  its  length, 
save  where  it  leads  directly  along  the  beach  in  view  of 
the  tumbling  surf,  which  curls  its  lip  along  every  identa- 
tion  of  the  several  bays,  and  gives  forth  a  voice  of  thunder 
as  it  rolls  upon  the  beach.  This  magnificent  display  of 


266          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  high  surf  where  it  comes  in  from  the  sea  uninterrupted 
by  the  reefs,  and  first  breaks  upon  the  beach,  is  of  itself  a 
grand  phenomenon  that  can  never  cease  to  interest  the 
eye  and  the  ear,  for  its  mingled  beauty  and  grandeur. 

The  bread-fruit  tree  was  everywhere  abundant  on  our 
way,  and  the  yellow  limes  lay  thick  beneath  many  a  luxu- 
riant tree,  like  the  apples  of  the  north  that  have  strewed 
the  orchard  where  they  have  ripened  with  the  later  days 
of  summer  and  the  earliest  sear  of  autumn.  The  green 
orange-trees  were  clustered  with  bunches  of  the  magnifi- 
cent fruit  in  endless  quantities  ;  and  the  guavas,  in  their 
wild  and  rapid  spread,  are  taking  possession  of  the  island ; 
all  presenting  a  supply  of  food  for  these  islands,  with  their 
native  cocoa-nut,  that  will  always  keep  them  an  indolent 
people.  They  have  but  to  raise  their  hands  and  pick  their 
food  from  the  trees  that  wave  above  their  heads,  and  live 
and  be  happy,  so  long  as  life  has  no  further  charm  to  them 
than  eating  and  drinking,  and  sleeping,  and  sleeping  again 
and  waking  and  eating  and  drinking. 

Point  Venus  forms  one  horn  of  Mattavai  bay,  into  which 
many  vessels  enter  instead  of  Papeete  bay,  where  our  ship 
is  anchored.  The  U.  S.  exploring  squadron  were  anchored 
there  but  a  few  months  since,  on  their  first  reaching  the 
island,  and  Commodore  Wilks  (for  so  the  young  command- 
er is  styled,  and  with  a  pennant  at  his  main  is  rightly  so 
addressed)  pitched  his  tent  for  observation  on  the  same  spot 
where  Cook  seventy  years  ago  raised  his.  And  here  lay 
the  Bounty,  whose  story  is  one  of  romance,  and  origina- 
ting the  poem  of  the  "  Island,"  from  Byron's  pen.  The 
visit  of  the  exploring  squadron  to  this  island  is  spoken 
favorably  of  by  the  missionary  families.  Commodore 
Wilks,  Captain  Hudson  and  officers  inspected  the  schools, 
and  presents  were  distributed  to  the  children  and  native 
teachers.  The  ships,  after  spending  a  short  time  at  Mat- 
tavai bay,  anchored  where  our  own  ships  are  moored,  as 
the  more  convenient  and  safe  harbor. 

We  dined  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  and  family. 

Our  ride  back  from  Point  Venus,  was  alike  pleasant 
along  the  embowered  road  of  the  ever  resounding  beach, 
passing  the  mausoleum  of  the  ruling  family,  containing  the 
bodies  of  the  Pomares;  and  amused  at  times  by  witnessing 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  267 

the  young  Tahitians,  whose  element  is  the  water,  diving 
beneath  the  surf  as  it  rolled  its  immense  swell  above  their 
heads,  and  broke  in  foam  and  thunder  on  the  shore. 

I  took  tea  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pritchard,  who  has  the 
appointment  of  British  consul  at  these  islands,  and  has  been 
long  situated  at  Tahiti.  Mrs.  P.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  the  wife 
of  the  lately  arrived  missionary  who  is  to  occupy  the  field 
at  this  place,  are  the  only  two  European  ladies  resident  at 
Papeete  whom  I  have  met.  There  is  no  society  here ;  and 
but  little  of  interest,  save  the  luxuriant  display  of  nature  in 
the  vegetable  productions  of  the  island.  And  these  are  not 
numerous,  so  far  as  the  trees  of  the  plain  are  concerned. 
The  bread-fruit  tree,  the  guava,  lime,  orange,  and  banana, 
and  a  Chilian  plum,  a  magnificent  tree  with  the  gran- 
deur of  a  forest  mammoth,  are  nearly  all  the  variety  that 
meets  the  eye.  These  are  all  the  natives  need,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  taro  and  an  indifferent  sweet  potato  and 
a  mountain  plantain.  These  trees  bearing  the  year  around, 
serve  to  yield  the  necessaries  of  life  to  the  indolent  popu- 
lation. 

The  natives  are  of  a  fairer  complexion  than  the  Sand- 
wich Islanders,  and  some  of  them  have  interest  of  ex- 
pression in  their  features.  But  they  have  generally  (the 
women)  the  high  cheek  bone  and  the  flat  nose  and  moon 
face  of  the  American  Indian. 

TWO  SUNDAYS  COME  TOGETHER. 

On  Saturday  the  13th  I  went  ashore,  to  attend  the  re- 
ligious services  in  the  native  church,  and  also,  at  a  later 
hour,  at  the  seamen's  chapel.  It  was  the  Sabbath  at  the 
islands,  their  time  differing  from  ours  by  one  day,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  missionaries  not  changing  their  reckoning, 
as  they  should  have  done,  on  crossing  the  meridian  of 
180°,  having  made  their  passage  to  these  islands  by  the 
way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Indies,  like  our- 
selves. 

The  usual  services  on  board  the  Columbia,  the  succeed- 
ing day,  exhibited  this  dissonance  more  strikingly  than  it 
would  otherwise  have  struck  us.  On  their  Sunday,  the 
preceding  day,  I  addressed  the  natives,  through  the  Rev. 


268  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

Mr.  Pritchard,  as  interpreter.  When  I  had  finished  my 
talk,  a  chief  arose  in  his  place  and  begged  Mr.  P.  to  inter- 
pret his  reply.  My  address,  he  said,  he  would  wish  me  to 
know  was  entirely  understood,  although  I  had  spoken  in 
English,  as  it  had  been  interpreted,  sentence  by  sentence. 
One  illustration  only  (which  was  afterwards  explained) 
he  had  not  fully  comprehended.  He  had  come  down  to 
the  church  this  morning  not  with  the  expectation  of  hear- 
ing this  speech,  but  he  was  glad  that  it  had  so  happened. 
They  were  glad  to  learn,  as  they  had  now  been  told,  that 
the  religion  which  they  had  embraced  was  the  same  as 
that  of  the  English  and  the  American  people,  and  which  the 
American  missionaries  had  borne  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
as  the  English  missionaries  did  to  Tahiti.  He  knew  not, 
the  chief  continued,  how  it  was  with  the  rest,  or  rather  he 
could  not  answer  for  them  in  connection  with  one  part  of 
my  speech,  where  I  urged  them  to  "  hold  on  to  the  reli- 
gion they  professed  ;"  but  for  one  he  would  say  that  it 
was  his  determination  to  do  so.  He  believed  in  the  sin- 
cerity of  our  friendly  visit,  so  different  from  some  they  had 
lately  received. 

The  manner  of  this  chief  was  very  easy,  and  his  ap- 
pearance, dressed  in  European  style,  was  not  different 
from  that  of  a  Spaniard  or  Portuguese,  in  his  summer  dress 
of  thin  white. 

Another  chief  rose,  with  assurances  that  all  feelings 
of  kindness  for  their  religious  welfare  were  reciprocated 
to  the  stranger,  and  that  their  prayers  would  be  given  for 
me.  Indeed  they  prayed  for  all  clergymen,  he  said,  that 
they  may  be  prospered  in  their  labors,  except  Romish 
priests — they  could  not  pray  that  their  labors  might  be 
prospered.  This  was  said  with  great  gravity,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  action  of  the  Catholic  priests  and  the  French 
man-of-war  at  these  islands.  No  particular  reference  had 
been  made  to  Romanism  in  the  address  that  had  been  de- 
livered by  myself. 

Others  spoke ;  and  the  scene  was  entirely  unique  and 
unexpected,  not  only  to  myself,  but  I  believe  to  Mr.  P. 
also,  as  he  seemed  to  have  been  taken  by  surprise.  But 
the  greater  interest  was  added  to  the  meeting  from  this 
spontaneous  burst  of  feeling  from  the  chiefs,  in  which  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  269 

other  natives  of  the  congregation  sympathized,  to  the  oc- 
casional audible  expression  of  their  interest,  as  the  speak- 
ing proceeded,  in  their  rejoinders. 

It  is  not  within  my  purpose  to  extend  my  descriptions 
in  connection  with  the  Society  Islands,  or  reflections  upon 
measures  lately  pursued  here.  The  islanders  have  been 
forced,  as  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  into  a  treaty  with  the 
French,  in  connection  with  the  Roman  Catholic  religion, 
which  was  made  in  view  of  threatened  war  and  conflagra- 
tion, giving  the  natives  no  alternative  but  to  accept  the 
conditions  proposed.  There  is  one  particular,  however, 
that  must  strike  the  American.  No  public  exception  was 
made,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  the  action  of  the  English  mis- 
sionaries here,  notwithstanding  it  is  known,  and  not  pre- 
tended to  be  concealed,  that  the  English  missionaries  have 
advised  the  native  government,  and  accepted  judicial  ap- 
pointments under  it.  Why  is  this  ?  Did  France  feel  that 
it  was  a, more  delicate  subject  for  her  to  meddle  with  Eng- 
lishmen than  with  Americans  ;  and  when,  too,  there  was 
positive  and  acknowledged  proof  in  the  action  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  none,  either  acknowledged  or  in  fact  existing,  in 
the  case  of  the  American  missionaries  ?  The  course  of 
the  two  missions,  in  their  policy,  has  been  different — the 
American  missionaries  carefully  abstaining  from  interfer- 
ing with  the  acts  of  the  native  government,  according  to 
their  orders  from  the  Board  of  missions  at  home — and  the 
English  missionaries,  on  the  contrary,  making  it  a  point 
openly  to  use  their  influence  with  the  powers  that  are. 
We  leave  the  American  citizen  and  the  American  govern- 
ment to  draw  their  conclusions  on  this  subject,  and  con- 
tent ourselves  by  quoting  the  following  communication  of 
H.  B.  M.  Consul  Mr.  rritchard,  already  several  times 
mentioned,  and  well  known  for  his  long  residence  at  Ta- 
hiti, and  for  the  energetic  action  in  his  Christian  efforts  in 
behalf  of  these  people. 

"  Tahiti,  December  20,  1839. 
"  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, — 

"  I  hereby  send  you  a  copy  of  the  letter  sent  by  Du 
Petit  Thours,  Commodore  of  the  French  frigate  Venus,  to 
Pomare,  Queen  of  Tahiti.  Also  a  copy  of  the  treaty 


270  A    VOYAGE    AROUND   THE    WORLD. 

formed  between  A.  Du  Petit  Thours,  on  the  part  of  the 
French  government,  and  Queen  Pomare.  The  requisitions 
contained  in  the  letter  were  fulfilled.  As  the  natives  were 
not  able  to  raise  the  money  demanded,  a  few  of  us  for- 
eigners united,  and  paid  the  sum  of  $2000. 

"  At  the  time  the  treaty  was  formed  a  public  meeting 
was  held  in  the  large  church.  At  this  meeting  the  native 
authorities  stated  that  they  were  willing  to  receive  French- 
men, and  to  treat  them  well ;  but  suppose  French  priests 
should  come — were  they,  the  authorities,  obliged  to  allow 
them  to  teach  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  ?  The  Com- 
modore, A.  Du  Petit  Thours,  replied,  No ;  if  they  did  not 
wish  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  to  be  taught  in  Queen 
Pomare's  dominions,  they  might  enact  a  law  to  that  effect. 
Some  little  time  after,  when  the  Legislature  met,  they  en- 
acted a  law,  prohibiting  all  except  the  Protestant  religion 
being  taught  in  Queen  Pomare's  dominions. 

"  In  a  few  months  after  this,  the  Artemise,  Captain  La 
Place,  came.  I  was  from  home  at  this  time,  but  since  my 
return  I  have  been  informed  that  the  frigate  struck  upon 
a  rock  on  the  north  side  of  Tahiti,  when,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  timely  assistance  of  the  natives,  the  vessel  would 
have  been  lost.  She  was  thoroughly  repaired  at  Tahiti. 
The  Frenchmen  were  allowed  to  cut  down  timber  where- 
ever  they  pleased,  by  paying  the  owner  of  the  land  a  cer- 
tain sum  for  each  tree.  About  four  hundred  natives  were 
employed  for  some  weeks,  pumping,  who  received  twenty- 
jive  cents  for  twenty-four  hours1  labor. 

"  After  the  Artemise  had  been  repaired,  and  was  all 
ready  for  sea,  the  Frenchmen  put  themselves  in  a  most 
hostile  position.  The  first  thing  demanded  was,  that  the 
law  in  reference  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  be  abro- 
gated. If  the  Tahitian  government  would  not  agree  to 
this,  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  armed,  were  to  be  landed, 
who  would  first  set  fire  to  the  Protestant  church,  then  the 
queen's  house,  afterwards  the  houses  of  the  chiefs  and 
common  people,  and  thus  destroy  the  town.  The  poor 
Tahitians  were  frightened  into  a  compliance.  The  law 
was  abrogated.  They  then  insisted  upon  having  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  chapel  built  at  this  station,  professedly  for 
the  benefit  of  French  seamen  calling  at  this  port.  This 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  271 

demand  was  accompanied  with  the  same  threats.  At 
length  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  have  a  chapel,  but 
that  service  should  be  performed  in  the  French  language 
only.  This  being  settled,  they  then  insisted  upon  having 
a  Roman  Catholic  chapel  at  every  station  wherever  there 
was  a  Protestant  one,  and  the  service  performed  in  the 
Tahitian  language.  Their  threats  were  such  as  led  the 
natives  to  believe  that  there  was  no  alternative  ;  that  they 
must  agree  to  all  demands  made  by  Captain  La  Place,  or 
commence  hostilities  with  a  powerful  nation,  against  which 
they  are  not  able  to  stand.  Thus  the  French  obtained  all 
they  desired,  and  went  away  exulting  in  what  they  had 
accomplished  among  the  poor  helpless  natives. 

"  We  are  now  daily  expecting  Roman  Catholic  priests 
to  enter  in  among  us  and  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  in  this 
field  of  missionary  labor,  which  probably  may  terminate 
in  a  civil  war. 

"I  cannot  now  enlarge.  Wishing  you  the  best  of 
blessings, 

"  I  remain,  very  affectionately  yours, 

"  G.  PRITCHARD. 
"  To  the  Rev.  Fitch  W.  Taylor,  Chaplain  U.  S.  Frigate  Columbia." 

CORAL    FORESTS. 

I  know  not  that  Mrs.  Stickney,  in  her  Poetry  of  Na- 
ture, or  Mr.  Montgomery,  in  his  descriptions  of  things 
which  are  poetical,  has  made  mention  of  the  coral  forests 
of  the  sea.  There  is  not  in  nature  a  grouping  of  forms 
and  blending  of  colors  more  beautiful  and  gorgeous  than 
is  presented  in  the  fantastic  variety  of  a  coral  field  in  the 
deep.  These  islands  of  the  Pacific  are  hemmed  around 
by  one  line  of  coral  reef,  broken  here  and  there  so  as  to 
form  inlets  into  the  quiet  basins,  which  constitute  the  har- 
bors of  the  islands. 

The  sheet  of  water  on  which  we  are  moored  being  per- 
fectly calm,  I  jumped  into  a  canoe  paddled  by  a  single 
native,  and  told  him  to  shoot  the  fragile  thing  towards  the 
outer  reef,  over  which  the  breakers  were  tumbling  so  as 
to  leave  their  beautiful  line  of  white,  ever  seen,  dividing 
the  waters  of  the  blue  deep  without  from  the  deep  waters 

50 


272  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

of  the  basin  within.  We  came  to  the  shoaling  water  of 
one  of  the  coral  islets,  whose  submarine  formation  had 
neared  the  surface  of  the  basin.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight 
as  I  looked  down  to  the  submerged  forests  below,  over 
which  the  canoe  rested  without  rippling  the  surface  of  the 
still  water,  through  which  the  eye  gazed  to  the  coral 
groves  below.  And  you  might  fancy  them  whatever  you 
chose — forests,  grottoes — castle  halls,  with  red  rooms 
and  green  rooms — and  all  a  gorgeous  scene  of  beautiful 
grouping  and  coloring.  Here  were  fields  of  branching 
ferns  in  all  their  beautiful  regularity  of  frond — and  here, 
the  matted  folia  of  more  irregular  shrub — and  here,  the 
mushroom,  with  its  radia  converging  to  their  common 
centre,  and  bounded  at  their  diverging  extremes  by  a 
common  curved  line,  and  laying  their  oval  and  circular 
forms  among  the  shrub,  or  vine,  or  stem,  or  leaf,  wherever 
there  seemed  a  vacancy,  like  a  rose  in  the  filling  up  of  a 
piece  of  carved  fret-work,  in  ornamental  architecture. 
And  here  again  branched  off,  in  heavier  proportions,  the 
resemblances  of  the  cactus  or  prickly  pear  ;  and  then,  still 
higher,  rise  the  antlers  of  leafless  but  spotless  alabaster 
boughs  of  a  wider  forest,  overtopping  the  ferns  and  lower 
shrubbery.  And  then,  the  colors  and  the  grouping  !  Here 
was  the  delicate  pink,  that  seemed  to  blush  at  its  own  con- 
sciousness of  loveliness ;  and  there  the  circular  group 
fringed  with  purple  ;  and  again,  a  deep  hall  of  azure  ;  and 
the  cactus  arrayed  in  green,  with  its  edges  lightening  to 
a  brilliant  fringe  of  gold.  Beautiful  residences  and  forest- 
rambles  for  the  Peri  of  the  deep !  My  Tahitian,  without 
remorse  of  conscience,  committed  sacrilege  upon  these 
golden,  and  azure,  and  sapphire  halls,  as  he  invaded  the 
submarine  forests  and  replenished  the  canoe  with  speci- 
mens of  the  different-colored  sea  gems  for  my  pleasure. 

We  glided  over  to  the  Queen's  Island,  the  little  islet 
studding  the  coral  flat;  and  securing  from  its  solitary 
resident  a  variety  of  curious  shells,  were  again  returning 
to  the  shore  before  the  bay  became  sufficiently  disturbed 
to  roll  its  mimic  billows  over  the  side  of  the  canoe. 

The  wind  being  fair  on  the  19th  of  December,  and 
deemed  sufficiently  fresh  to  take  the  ships  from  the  harbor 
through  the  narrow  opening  in  the  reef,  to  sea,  a  signal  to 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  273 

the  Adams  was  made  for  her  to  get  under  way — the  pilot 
being  on  board  of  her,  and  directed  to  return  for  the  frigate 
after  the  Adams  had  been  taken  through  the  reef.  The 
beautiful  corvette  let  fall  her  sails  and  was  away,  fearlessly 
standing  out  through  the  pass,  with  the  breakers  foaming 
on  either  bow,  and  apparently  nearly  tumbling  into  her 
fore-chains,  so  closely  do  the  ships  stand  to  the  edge  of  the 
abruptly  broken  reef,  whose  extreme  points  nearly  meeting 
leave  their  position  distinctly  marked  by  the  cessation  of 
the  white  line  of  the  breakers,  which  loses  itself  in  the 
deep  water  of  the  narrow  pass.  The  topsails  of  the  Adams 
were  soon  aback,  awaiting  for  our  own  movements  ;  but 
before  the  pilot  was  aboard  the  frigate,  the  wind  had  fallen 
again,  and  as  our  sails,  which  had  been  loosened,  were 
furled,  the  Adams  filled  away  and  stood  to  sea  for  the  night. 
The  next  morning  a  sail  was  seen  in  the  distance,  and  ere 
long  the  full  outline  of  our  consort  was  made  out,  as  she 
stood  on  and  off  until  another  day  passed  ;  and  the  wind 
still  failing  to  offer  an  opportunity  for  our  getting  to  sea, 
the  Adams  again  sought  her  safety  from  a  coral-bound 
shore  for  the  night,  in  the  far  offing. 

The  day  had  been  mild,  and  hardly  a  handful  of  wind 
had  been  poured  over  the  unrippled  bay  on  which  we  were 
lying ;  and  all  expectation  of  putting  to  sea  during  the 
afternoon  had  again  ceased.  But  the  still  day  had  been 
favorable  for  Pomare,  the  queen,  to  make  her  passage 
along  within  the  reef,  from  the  direction  of  Point  Venus, 
where  it  was  supposed  she  might  have  spent  the  preceding 
night ;  and  at  four  o'clock  a  line  of  whale-boats  were  seen 
standing  from  that  direction,  and  soon  passed  near  the 
stern  of  the  Columbia.  They  bore  her  majesty,  with  her 
train. 

The  experience  we  already  had  of  the  last  two  days, 
showed  the  possibility  of  a  longer  detention  than  was 
desired,  and  the  propriety  of  securing  the  first  wind  that 
should  offer  for  getting  to  sea.  The  Commodore,  there- 
fore, made  a  call  upon  her  majesty,  the  same  afternoon  of 
her  arrival,  and  repeated,  in  person,  the  substance  of  com- 
munications which  had  been  left  for  her. 

The  next  morning  a  breeze  from  the  land,  before  the 
sun  had  looked  over  the  hills  of  Tahiti,  called  forth  the 


274  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

summons  of  "  all  hands  to  get  under  way ;"  and  in  safety, 
and  with  a  welcome  that  spoke  still  stronger  than  ever  of 
our  nearing  our  yet  distant  home,  we  were  again  at  sea. 
A  few  hours  more  of  light  and  of  sailing  from  this  Island- 
Queen  of  the  South  Seas,  and  the  Adams  had  come  down 
to  us.  Together  we  are  now  standing  on  our  course,  to 
the  west  coast  of  South  America. 


SECTION    X. 

SOUTH  AMERICA. 
VALPARAISO    AND    SANTIAGO. 

Land  Ho !  South  American  coast.  The  sick  at  sea.  Harbor  of  Valparai- 
so. Letters  from  home.  Dine  with  the  American  Consul.  Christening 
of  his  babe.  Meet  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chauncey  and  others.  Preach  at  the 
private  chapel,  where  the  Protestants  worship.  An  analogy.  Santiago. 
Great  altar  in  the  cathedral.  The  Seiiora  Carmen  Bargas  de  Alexandri. 
Tertulia.  Mass  at  the  cathedral.  Calls  on  different  persons  at  Santiago. 
The  President,  Joaquin  Prie'to.  American  Charge  d' Affaires.  Return 
to  Valparaiso.  Dine  with  Admiral  Ross.  Farewell  leave  of  the  Amer- 
ican families.  Getting  under  way,  and — away. 

"  LAND  Ho !"  was  cried  from  the  top  yesterday,  January 
21,  1840 ;  and  we  are  to-day  standing  along  the  coast  of 
South  America,  having  made  our  run  from  the  Society 
Islands  in  the  unusually  short  passage  of  twenty-nine  days 
from  land  to  land.  We  only  wait  a  breeze  to  put  us  into 
the  harbor  of  Valparaiso,  being  a  few  miles  south  of  the 
city.  The  outline  of  the  coast  lies  distinctly  before  us, 
high  land  elevating  itself  in  the  interior,  but  less  abrupt  in 
its  distant  appearance  than  the  islands  among  which  we 
had  been  sailing  in  the  Pacific.  And  this  is  the  long  ex- 
pected west  coast  of  South  America.  And  how  many,  how 
full,  how  thrilling  are  the  more  than  ten  thousand  associ- 
ations which  rush  to  the  mind  !  How  one  re-lives  over  the 
first  days  of  his  existence,  as  he  gazes  for  the  first  time 
on  lands  and  on  seas,  about  which  he  has  read  but  before 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          275 

has  never  seen  !  He  calls  back  all  the  feelings  of  romance 
and  adventurous  longing  with  which  he  read,  in  his  young 
days,  the  stories  of  travel,  heroism,  chivalry,  war,  blood- 
shed, tyranny,  benevolence,  adventurers  singly  and  in 
armies,  the  establishment  and  the  overthrow  of  empires. 
It  makes  one's  life  more  than  a  double  one.  Pizarro,  Mon- 
tezuma,  mines  of  silver  and  gold  and  other  ores,  and  In- 
dian toils,  and  Mexican  and  Peruvian  wealth,  are  all  words 
which  have  originated  ideas  in  our  young  days,  and  served 
in  their  future  combinations  of  the  mind,  in  its  imaginings 
and  analyses,  to  form  the  thinking  and  feeling  being  that 
constitutes  one's  particular  self. 

THE    SICK    AND    THE    CHAPLAIN. 

One  of  the  sick  men  I  visited  this  morning  I  found  yet 
more  unwell.  I  had  marked  him  often  on  the  upper-deck, 
and  was  always  struck  by  the  soft  and  subdued  tone  of  his 
voice.  He  was  in  the  sick-bay  this  morning,  and  I  sup- 
posed he  was  improving.  "  How  are  you,  Mathews?"  I 
asked  kindly,  as  I  had  often  before  spoken  to  him.  "Your 
cot  being  moved,  I  supposed  you  had  gone  to  take  a  walk." 

"  I  am  very  unwell,  sir,"  he  replied,  in  a  plaintive  tone, 
as  he  placed  his  hand  upon  his  side,  indicating  the  point  of 
his  pain.  "  I  cannot  move,  sir.  I  wish  God  would  be 
pleased  to  take  me  out  of  this  world,  sir ;  but  I  have  been 
so  sinful,  sir."  And  here  the  young  sailor  put  the  back  of 
his  hand  to  his  face,  to  wipe  away  the  tears  that  flowed 
successively  down  his  cheek. 

I  could  hardly  restrain  my  own  tears  as  I  marked  his 
sunken  spirits,  and  his  tone  of  voice  so  mild  and  suppressed, 
while  I  sat  beside  him  and  continued  my  conversation, 

The  Saviour,  I  assured  him,  came  to  save  sinners,  not 
those  who  deemed  themselves  righteous.  It  was  the  broken 
heart  he  asked.  He  showed  his  love  towards  us,  in  this, 
that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us.  He 
willeth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  all  should 
come  to  repentance.  I  doubted  not  but  that  he  had  been 
very  sinful ;  but  it  was  well  if  he  so  felt  it,  and  a  conscious- 
ness of  it  had  brought  him  to  feel  that  he  had  nothing  to 
recommend  him  to  the  favor  of  his  God,  and  that  he  need- 

50* 


276          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

ed  his  pardon.  I  endeavored  to  guide  his  mind,  while  he 
continued  to  weep.  And  as  I  asked  of  his  education,  I 
learned,  as  is  usually  the  case  where  these  feelings  are 
found,  that  his  "mother  used  to  read  good  books  and  had 
talked  to  him  of  religion."  And  that  mother,  I  thought — 
whatever  might  be  her  situation  in  life — was  yet  a  mother, 
with  a  mother's  feelings ;  and  what  would  be  the  swellings 
of  her  bosom  could  she  look  upon  her  dying  son ! 

I  returned  to  my  room  and  wept  over  the  scene  of  the 
sadness  and  stricken  spirit  of  this  young  man,  so  humble, 
so  mild,  so  indescribably  gentle  in  the  expression  of  his 
voice,  and  penitent  in  the  appreciation  of  his  own  charac- 
ter and  unworthiness.  How  unlike  another  to  whom  I  had 
spoken  but  a  moment  before,  who  said  he  had  long  been 
suffering,  and  wished  he  was  out  of  the  world  !  I  asked 
what  he  considered  would  be  his  situation  were  he  at  once 
removed,  according  to  his  expressed  wish  ?  "  It  could  not 
be  much  worse,  sir,  anyhow,"  he  replied,  with  as  much 
grumness  of  voice  as  the  technical  deference  of  the  ship 
service  would  allow.  But,  I  continued,  if  your  suffering 
here  for  so  short  a  time  is  so  distressing,  how  painful  would 
it  be  if  that  suffering  were  to  continue  for  ever !  And  if 
you  would  wish  to  be  relieved  from  your  present  suffering, 
should  you  not  strive,  by  a  proper  preparation  to  leave  this 
life,  to  be  for  ever  free  from  that  which  will  pain  and  ren- 
der unhappy  ? 

The  scenes  often  presented  to  the  chaplain  on  board  a 
man-of-war  are  peculiar,  and  frequently  they  are  feeling 
beyond  description.  It  must  be  so,  where  there  are  con- 
gregated among  the  crew  so  many  whose  lives  have  been 
reckless  and  immoral,  and  yet  in  their  early  days  instruct- 
ed in  the  principles  of  a  Christian  education.  I  have  been 
sent  for  by  one  who  had  declared  himself  an  atheist,  and 
endeavored  to  spread  his  opinions  among  his  messmates, 
but  on  his  dying  cot  desired  to  make  a  public  declaration 
of  his  folly.  His  forced  convictions  would  not  serve  him, 
he  said,  to  die  by,  and  he  renounced  them,  and  warned 
others  against  a  like  folly  of  his  own.  It  is  to  the  chaplain 
many  a  poor  tar  confides  his  last  words,  and  tells,  as  a  re- 
lief to  his  own  spirit,  the  incidents  that  led  him  from  the 
parental  roof.  "  My  father  once  struck  me,"  said  a  young 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  277 

man  who  first  opened  his  feelings  to  me,  as  the  tears  in- 
voluntarily traced  their  way  down  his  cheeks,  after  I  had 
expressed  my  sympathy  for  his  situation;  "I  could  not  brook 
it — my  spirit  was  too  haughty — and  I  left  home  for  ever. 
But  I  would  desire  that  they  might  hear  from  me."  I  as- 
sured him  that  I  would  write,  as  he  gave  me  their  address, 
a  family  in  creditable  circumstances  of  connection  and  pro- 
perty. "  I  must  die,"  he  continued,  after  he  had  made 
known  all  his  wishes  to  me,  and  confided  in  my  promise 
to  communicate  with  his  family;  "but  now  I  can  die  more 
willingly."  He  was  a  sensible  man,  and  I  trust  possessed 
at  this  hour  the  proper  frame  of  mind  for  a  being  hourly 
expecting  to  leave  this  for  another  world. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  cases  which  have  pre- 
sented themselves  in  the  sad  mortality,  which,  at  one  time, 
attended  our  crew.  "  I  have  sinned  with  an  uplifted  hand 
and  an  outstretched  arm,"  said  another, "  but  it  is  too  late 
to  remedy  the  past,  and  I  can  only  supplicate  my  God  to 
forgive."  I  may  never  forget  the  prayers  that  this  man 
offered  as  I  stood  beside  his  dying  hammock.  His  per- 
sonal appearance,  when  in  health,  had  attracted  my  inter- 
est for  his  fine  proportions  and  enviable  figure.  He  died, 
leaving  a  message  for  his  wife,  who  constituted  all  his 
family. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  presence  of  a  chaplain 
is  always  appreciated  by  the  crew  of  a  man-of-war. 
They  feel  that  they  can  speak  to  him  as  they  cannot  to  a 
watch-officer.  And  his  Christian  sympathies  are  often  ap- 
pealed to  in  his  rounds  among  the  sick,  and  other  inter- 
course with  the  men, when  it  can  be  known  only  to  himself; 
and  the  longest  sea-going  tar,  whatever  may  have  been 
his  course,  feels  it  to  be  a  consolation  in  his  last  hours  to 
know,  that  the  service  shall  be  performed,  in  decency  and 
solemnity,  by  the  chaplain  over  his  remains,  at  their  inter- 
ment, on  land  or  in  the  deep. 

HARBOR    OF    VALPARAISO. 

The  frigate's  eight  o'clock  gun  has  been  fired,  and  we 
are  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso.  The  music 
from  different  ships  of  war,  from  three  of  the  most  power- 


278 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 


VALPARAISO. 


ful  nations  of  the  globe,  is  now  hushed,  and  the  bay  sleeps 
again  in  its  stillness.  A  long  bank  of  dark  hills  throw  their 
deep  shade  upon  the  water,  as  they  sweep  their  crescent 
battlement  around  the  bay  ;  and  here  and  there  the  lights 
of  the  shore  and  from  the  inner  shipping  gleam  sparklingly, 
while  the  stars  in  the  heavens  twinkle  from  a  pure  and  deep 
sky,  as  the  moon  yet  lingers  behind  the  high  Cordilleras. 
The  whole  scene  emblems  forth  much  of  the  varied  feel- 
ings which  swell  different  hearts  on  board  our  ship  to- 
night, after  the  perusal  of  the  hundreds  of  letters  which 
were  awaiting  us  at  this  port.  Joy,  grief/delight,  sadness, 
affectionate  solicitudes  answered,  and  fearful  apprehensions 
confirmed,  bright  hopes  realized,  dreams  of  happy  intelli- 
gence more  than  insured,  all  vary  the  mingled  emotions, 
which  to-night  hold  many  hearts  in  alternate  happiness 
and  sorrow.  Some  have  heard  of  the  death  of  fathers — 
one,  of  a  child — some,  of  brothers — others,  of  other  kindred 
and  friends.  Marriages,  joyous  incidents,  and  happy  intel- 
ligence crowd  the  letters  of  others.  Here  are  things  that 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          279 

wake  music  mingled  of  the  heart,  as  it  breathes  forth  from 
the  line  of  joyous  narrative,  or  swells  in  the  ^Eolian  strain 
of  plaintive  intelligence,  or  lingers  in  the  slow  elegiac  over 
the  memory  of  departed  friends.  A  year  has  passed  since 
our  last  intelligence  from  home.  My  own  letters  contain 
the  mention  of  thirteen  deaths  of  acquaintances  and  friends. 
What  a  world  of  change  is  this  !  But  we  would  learn 
even  the  worst,  and  end  our  suspense.  And  there  will 
ever  be  mingled,  in  all  the  circumstances  of  this  existence, 
the  shade  with  the  sunshine  ;  and  the  aching  heart  is  never 
far  away  from  the  outgushings  of  the  most  unalloyed  en- 
joyment. 

The  day  succeeding  our  arrival  at  Valparaiso,  I  dined 
with  our  consul, George G.  Hobson,  Esq.,  and  his  estimable 
family.  Their  residence,  with  the  other  American  fami- 
lies, is  delightfully  situated  on  one  of  the  hills  immediately 
overlooking  the  town,  and  commanding  a  full  view  of  the 
bay  and  its  shipping,  with  the  wide  ocean  extending  fur- 
ther out  and  bounding  the  distant  horizon.  The  promenade 
in  front  of  the  low  cottage-formed  houses  is  like  a  quar- 
ter-deck, extending  in  length  some  two  or  three  hundred 
rods  and  three  or  four  wide.  The  houses  are  constructed 
with  reference  to  earthquakes,  not  unfrequently  occurring 
here,  though  of  late  years  unattended  by  the  catastrophes 
of  earlier  times.  There  are  ruins  of  buildings  yet  to  be 
seen  in  the  town,  which  have  crumbled  beneath  the  unrest 
of  these  trembling  regions. 

Mrs.  H.  is  an  interesting  lady  from  Maryland,  and  blessed 
with  a  charming  little  group  of  daughters  and  one  sweet 
babe,  who  is  their  only  and  cherished  boy.  I  record  his 
name  in  full  here,  and  with  interest,  as  a  lovely  child,  whom 
I  baptized  on  the  succeeding  Sunday.  May  kind  blessings 
always  attend  the  path  of  this  same  smiling  little  GEORGE 
HOBSON.  I  met  at  Mr.  Hobson's,  at  the  christening  of  his 
infant  son,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chauncey,  who  occupy  an  adja- 
cent building  of  the  same  cluster  of  houses.  Mrs.  C.  was 
a  Miss  A.,  of  Middletown,  Connecticut,  and  claims  for  the 
young  ladies  of  her  native  town  a  pre-eminence  in  beauty, 
a  particular,  from  which  I  was  far  from  dissenting,  having 
had  an  opportunity,  from  personal  observation,  to  confirm 
the  correctness  of  her  estimate  and  taste.  Two  English 


280  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

young  ladies  were  present,  and  several  American  and  Eng- 
lish gentlemen. 

I  had  preached  in  the  Protestant  chapel  in  the  morning, 
which  is  fitted  up  in  very  good  style,  and,  by  sufferance, 
allowed  to  exist  as  a  private  building  in  outward  appear- 
ance, being  joined  to  a  private  dwelling  as  a  part  of  it.  The 
government  of  the  city  say  that  they  will  not  interfere,  so 
long  as  there  shall  exist  no  appearance  externally  of  a  Prot- 
estant house  of  worship,  though  I  have  been  informed  that 
an  order  from  the  ecclesiastical  authority  at  Santiago  has 
been  received  at  Valparaiso  to  have  the  doors  of  this  build- 
ing closed,  and  the  congregation  suppressed.  The  reply 
of  the  governor  was,  that  he  should  not  put  the  order  into 
execution ;  if  required,  however,  to  do  it,  he  should  hand 
in  his  resignation.  That  every  precaution  on  the  part  of 
the  Protestant  community  is  adopted  to  enable  them  to  re- 
tain their  little  place  of  worship,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
circumstance  of  my  proposing  to  wear  my  gown  from  the 
consulate  to  the  room  fitted  up  as  the  chapel ;  and  it  was 
suggested,  for  the  reasons  already  alluded  to,  that  it  might 
be  as  well  for  the  servant  to  take  it,  though  a  short  distance, 
to  the  chapel.  What  a  pity  that  the  Protestant  frigate  now 
in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso  should  not  send  ashore  a  mani- 
festo to  this  Catholic  community,  demanding  a  site  for  the 
building  of  a  Protestant  chapel  and  the  free  and  open  wor- 
ship of  the  Protestant  faith,  or  else,  as  the  alternative,  to 
fire  upon  their  town.  And  more — suppose  the  American 
frigate  should  proscribe  the  Catholic  Frenchmen  in  Valpa- 
raiso as  identified  with  the  religion  of  the  government, 
and  without  proof  affirm  that  they  sanctioned  the  Catholic 
illiberality  towards  the  Protestants,  and  in  case  of  hostili- 
ties, assure  them  that  they  should  receive  no  quarters,  but 
meet  the  fate  intended  for  the  enemies  of  Protestant  Amer- 
ica. We  run  not  further  the  parallel  for  the  reader  of  the 
action  of  the  PArtemise  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  But  we 
do  call  upon  the  sensitive  and  sensible  Frenchmen  to  dis- 
own the  conduct  of  Captain  La  Place  and  the  French  con- 
sul at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  And  we  do  further  call  upon 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  look  at  the  trans- 
actions of  the  TArtemise  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  the 
light  in  which  the  present  state  of  things  in  this  Catholic 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          281 

republic  presents  them,  and  to  express  its  feelings  in  all 
charity  and  justice  for  a  Protestant  cause,  and  rights  of 
American  citizens  abroad. 


SANTIAGO. 


Santiago,  the  capital  of  the  republic  of  Chili,  is  some 
ninety  miles  in  the  interior  from  Valparaiso.  A  visit  to 
the  capital  we  were  assured  would  more  than  repay  for  the 
necessary  exertion  which  it  would  cost  us  to  reach  it — the 
scenery  on  the  way  presenting  some  of  the  grandest  moun- 
tain views,  and  Santiago  itself  possessing  the  best  Chilian 
society.  We  therefore  determined  to  take  the  earliest  mo- 
ment for  making  the  excursion  ;  and  on  the  Tuesday  after 
our  arrival  at  Valparaiso  were  on  our  way  over  the  Cor- 
dilleras to  the  elevated  city,  in  a  something  of  an  I-don't- 
know-what-d'ye-call-it,  mostly  resembling  a  stout  country 
gig,  accommodating  two  passengers  in  its  ample  propor- 
tions of  width,  having  one  horse  in  its  shafts,  and  two  oth- 
ers, one  on  each  side  with  his  postillion,  attached  by  hide 
ropes,  leading  from  the  cross-piece  of  the  gig  to  the  girth 
of  the  rider.  Thus,  with  three  horses  abreast,  and  twice 
three  ahead  ready  to  be  lassoed  for  a  like  convenience  when 
the  others  were  tired,  we  advanced  on  our  course  from 
Valparaiso  of  the  sea-coast  to  the  city  of  Santiago  on  the 
elevated  plains  in  the  interior. 

We  accomplished  half  the  journey  after  twelve  o'clock 
the  first  day,  and  reached  Santiago  in  time  for  dinner  the 
next.  We  crossed  two  ranges  of  mountains,  or  spurs  of 
the  Andes,  by  ascending  a  mountain  road  which  would  be 
deemed  almost  impracticable  in  a  land  where  horse-flesh 
is  of  much  value ;  but  here,  where  a  very  respectable  draw- 
horse  may  be  purchased  for  a  doubloon,  we  accomplished 
the  zig-zag  pathway,  if  not  like  a  streak  of  lightning, 
which  the  track  would  resemble  if  delineated  on  canvass, 
we  yet  made  the  ascent  every  way  comfortably  to  ourselves, 
save  the  dust  that  enveloped  us  in  a  cloud  ;  and  descended 
again  to  the  speed  of  a  full  spring,  to  the  great  excitement 
of  weak  nerves,  lest  the  suddenness  of  the  turns  should 
prove  our  destruction,  by  our  being  precipitated,  volante, 
horses,  horsemen  and  all,  down  a  thousand  feet,  before  the 


282  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

horses  could  be  checked,  and  bent  to  the  winding  path. 
But  the  Spanish  bit,  that  terrible  thing  for  a  horse's  mouth, 
enabled  the  postillion  always  to  check  the  animals  on  the 
brink  of  the  precipice,  and  to  guide  them  at  his  pleasure, 
rendering  our  descent  of  the  Cordilleras  at  full  speed  as 
safe,  while  the  harness  proved  true,  as  our  passage  over 
the  plains.  Santiago  is  said  to  be  more  than  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean ;  and  beyond  it  rise  the 
snow-capped  Andes,  which,  at  the  last  pass  of  the  Cordil- 
leras, burst  in  full  view  upon  the  gaze  of  the  traveller,  be- 
fore he  descends  to  the  extensive  plain  between  the  two, 
on  which  the  capital  is  situated.  To  us,  who  have  been 
so  long  cruising  within  the  tropics,  and  looking  at  the 
ever  green  hill-side,  and  mountains  covered  with  fadeless 
foliage,  the  view  of  our  old  acquaintance  in  those  piles  of 
snow  had  nothing  in  it  to  chill,  but  every  thing  to  delight. 
It  carried  us  back  immediately,  in  our  home  associations, 
to  the  winter-scenes  of  our  own  northern  land,  and  made 
us  think  how  gladly  we  would  once  again  welcome  the 
sight  of  a  northeast  snow-storm. 

We  entered  the  city  through  a  double  range  of  mud 
houses,  low  and  apparently  crammed  with  many  occu- 
pants, presenting,  as  the  suburbs  of  all  cities  do,  little  of 
interest  and  much  one  would  choose  to  avoid.  Among 
the  many  faces,  however,  which  gazed  at  the  caballeros 
as  they  passed,  a  beautiful  young  woman,  with  her  neck 
and  arms  naked,  seemed  luxuriating  in  the  zephyrs  that 
had  just  begun  to  move  at  this  early  hour  after  the  greater 
heat  of  the  day.  Our  postillion  guided  our  establishment 
by  some  creditable  ranges  of  buildings  into  the  Plaza, 
and  in  a  few  moments  more  we  were  at  halt,  in  front  of 
the  Fonda  Inglesa.  The  spurs  of  the  postillion  upon  the 
pebbled  pavements  of  the  court  of  the  hotel,  as  he  dis- 
mounted, sounded  like  the  clanking  of  some  yards  of  iron 
chain-cable,  while  the  elongated  proportions  of  his  spurs 
resembled  the  arms  of  two  capacious  wind-mills.  Mine 
host  of  the  Fonda  soon  accommodated  us  with  comfort- 
able rooms  ;  and  an  equally  comfortable  warm-bath,  after 
our  dusty  but  interesting  ride,  made  us  in  good  humor 
with  all  the  world  again. 

Four  o'clock  was  the  time  for  dining,  and  we  had  hit 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  283 

upon  the  hour  quite  apropos  with  a  spare  interim  of  forty- 
five  minutes  for  bathing  and  the  toilet. 

Two  officers  of  the  squadron  (Dr.  Hazlett  and  Lieut. 
Turner)  had  preceded  us ;  and  as  we  entered  the  dining 
hall  we  found  them  with  fork,  con  carnero  balanceando, 
which  they  readily  dropped  to  give  us  welcome  for  old 
acquaintance'  sake. 

The  next  morning  we  called  on  the  American  charge 
d'affaires,  Richard  Pollard,  Esq.,  to  whom  our  considerate 
friend,  the  American  consul  at  Valparaiso,  gave  us  let- 
ters, and  we  at  once  found  in  Mr.  P.  a  friend,  ready  in 
every  way  in  his  power  to  contribute  to  the  pleasure  of 
our  stay  at  Santiago. 

In  the  morning  we  promenaded,  marked  the  localities 
of  the  city,  gazed,  as  strangers  without  impoliteness  may 
gaze,  on  the  passing  citizens,  senores,  senoras,  senoritas, 
padres  in  white,  and  padres  in  black.  One  of  these  pa- 
dres, in  his  white  robes,  at  a  point  where  the  inside  of 
the  walk  by  accident  had  become  disputed  and  the  wall 
side  was  tendered  to  him,  declined  it  with  so  much  native 
politeness  and  grace,  as  he  raised  his  broad-brimmed  hat 
and  added,  "  No  Sefior,  pase  usted,"  that  it  caused  me  to 
feel  kindly  towards  all  his  fraternity,  during  my  whole 
stay  at  Santiago.  At  sunset  we  walked  on  the  Alameda, 
a  beautiful  promenade,  bordered  on  either  side  with  a 
double  row  of  poplars,  and  extending  a  half  mile  or  more 
in  length,  with  stone  settees  occupying  either  side  of  the 
main  walk  nearly  its  whole  length,  as  an  acceptable  lounge 
to  those  who  prefer  sitting  and  chatting  to  chatting  and 
walking.  Here  the  elite  gather  at  the  late  hour  of  the  day, 
and  the  mob  or  populace,  soldiers,  priests,  merchants,  lov- 
ers and  the  loved,  and  whomever  it  pleaseth.  Children  are 
sent  out  with  their  nurses,  and  friend  expects  to  meet  friend. 
It  is  an  interesting  spectacle,  presented  here.  We  have 
not  seen  it  in  its  greatest  interest,  as  many  of  the  first  fami- 
lies, we  learn,  are  out  of  town,  at  their  quintas,  at  this  time 
of  the  year  ;  others  at  Valparaiso  and  other  points  for  sea 
bathing.  But  many  families  of  interest  are  still  in  town ; 
here  we  have  seen  several  pretty  native  Chilenas  passing, 
in  dress  for  their  evening  walk,  without  bonnet,  with  their 
fine  suits  of  hair  arranged  with  care  and  tastefully. 

51 


284  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

At  night,  after  nine  o'clock,  we  were  introduced  to  the 
family  of  General  Lastra.  His  lady  is  la  Sefiora  Carmen 
Izquierdo,  called,  after  the  Spanish  custom  of  the  country, 
la  Carmen  Izquierdo  de  Lastra.  The  General  is  absent 
on  duty.  The  pretty  daughters  whom  we  saw  were  the 
Senoritas  Cardina,  Carmen,  and  Rosa.  The  eldest  re- 
minded me  of  a  young  friend  I  had  left  in  the  United 
States.  There  was  the  same  oval  and  white  brow,  long 
lashes  and  delicately  pencilled  eyebrow,  and  deeply  speak- 
ing blue  eye  ;  with  a  nose  not  truly  Grecian,  but  yet  more 
expressive  for  its  variation,  and  characteristic  of  its  interest- 
ing possessor.  It  seemed  amusement  for  the  party  to  com- 
pare Spanish  words  with  English  ;  and  though  I  professed 
not  to  speak  the  Spanish  language,  I  yet  could  well  admire 
a  beautiful  Spanish  woman.  So  I  assured  the  young  Chi- 
lena,  in  great  sincerity,  as  much  perhaps  on  account  of 
her  resemblance  to  my  North  American  friend,  as  for  the 
personal  attractions  of  my  Chilian  acquaintance  herself. 
I  am  sure  I  shall  not  forget  the  peculiar  intonations  with 
which  she  pronounced  "  Si  Senor,"  "  No  Senor."  The 
Spanish  language  on  the  lip  of  a  Chilian  lady  is  indescri- 
bably sweet.  But  more  of  this  elsewhere.  La  Senora 
Carmen  Izquierdo  de  Lastra  spoke  of  the  North  Ameri- 
cans who  had  visited  Santiago,  and  thought  the  North 
American  women  very  beautiful.  She  remembered  Mrs. 
A.  and  sister.  The  evening  was  spent  very  agreeably, 
though  none  of  the  family  spoke  English.  Las  Senoritas 
Carmen  and  Rosa,  sisters  of  Carolina,  were  sprightly,  the 
one  with  ringlets  in  the  neck,  the  other  with  a  golden  fil- 
let, confining  the  hair,  smoothly  and  plainly  parted  on  the 
brow.  We  left  at  twelve  o'clock,  receiving  the  assuran- 
ces of  Mrs.  Lastra,  that  as  we  had  now  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance, her  house  was  always  open  to  us,  whenever 
it  should  be  convenient  for  us  to  call. 

THE    CATHEDRAL    AT    SANTIAGO. 

The  next  morning  I  rose  early  for  matins,  being  desi- 
rous of  visiting  the  cathedral,  which  is  deemed  the  finest 
church  edifice  of  Santiago. 

Besides  the  twenty  altars  decorating  the  sides  of  this 


A   VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  285 

extensive  building,  is  the  main  altar  located  centrally, 
nearly  at  the  further  end  of  the  building,  and  on  an  eleva- 
ted platform,  to  which  you  ascend  in  front  and  on  two 
sides  by  flights  of  steps.  This  central  altar  is  the  most 
gorgeous  one  in  the  building.  The  front  is  of  massive 
silver;  rather  it  is  a  heavy  plate  of  chase- work  with 

froups  of  figures  in  relievo,  being  some  four  feet  in  height 
y  ten  to  fifteen  in  length.  The  massive  candlesticks  are 
of  similar  materials  ;  and  the  different  furniture,  usual  for 
the  altar,  is  of  the  same  costly  and  rich  article.  Above 
this,  rises  a  doric  canopy  of  eight  columns,  supporting  a 
dome,  the  pillars  being  an  imitation  of  marble,  and  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  canopy  in  proper  proportion,  exhibiting  the 
beautiful  harmony,  though  on  a  small  scale,  of  Grecian 
architecture.  Within  this  canopy  rises  the  top  of  a  cen- 
tral pillar,  with  its  capital,  so  constructed  as  to  rise  or  fall 
at  pleasure ;  and  on  this  capital  rests  a  plated  globe  seve- 
ral feet  in  dimensions.  Still  behind  it,  on  the  same  level, 
is  the  orchestra. 

As  I  stood  in  front  of  this  altar,  on  a  succeeding  day, 
when  a  polite  priest  had  gone  with  me  through  the  build- 
ing, and  showed  me  its  inner  rooms,  the  richly  laced 
dresses,  and  silver  and  golden  utensils  for  the  altar  and 
the  procession,  as  well  as  its  public  halls,  I  could  well 
imagine  the  effect  capable  of  being  produced  upon  the 
worshippers,  whose  imagination  and  devotion  harmonized 
with  the  display  of  the  scene  before  them.  Imagine  the 
full  choir,  chanting  high  mass — a  hundred  priests*  in  their 
rich  and  varied  canonicals — the  recitative  of  their  sono- 
rous and  full  voices,  when,  for  a  moment,  the  music  ceases, 
and  the  cloud  of  incense  rises  and  rolls  in  evolving  per- 
fume and  fragrance  from  the  silver  censer — again  the  full 
chorus  fills  the  cloister,  rolling  from  arch  to  arch,  from 
recess  to  recess,  from  dome  to  pavement,  when  all  is  still- 
ed again  in  the  hush  of  death,  as  the  priest  is  about  to 
elevate  the  host.  The  low  tinkling  of  a  single  bell  is  now 
heard  throughout  the  vast  building,  and  all  prostrate  them- 
selves upon  their  knees,  while  the  pillar  that  supports  the 

*  It  is  said  there  are  fifteen  hundred  priests  in  Santiago,  of  three 
different  orders. 


286          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

plated  globe  is  seen  suddenly  to  settle,  leaving  the  globe 
suspended  apparently  in  mid-air ;  but  now  it  is  seen  to 
begin  to  spread  itself  longitudinally ;  and  now,  the  lower 
parts  of  the  meridians  curve  outward  and  yet  more  ex- 
pand, until  the  whole,  opening,  spreads  itself  as  a  spacious 
cerulean  heaven,  studded  with  stars,  on  which  a  row  of 
lighted  tapers  throw  their  sparkling  light.  And  there, 
upon  this  column,  in  a  golden  vase,  stands  the  eucharist. 
All  behold,  bow,  and  worship  ! 

I  saw  not  this  gilded  globe  open  even  on  the  succeed- 
ing Sunday,  which  was  a  feast  of  great  interest  in  the 
church ;  but  the  priest,  already  alluded  to,  exhibited  for 
my  pleasure  this  holy  phantasmagoria,  which  is  opened 
only  on  occasions  of  great  solemnity.  It  is  a  French 
piece  of  mechanism,  connected  with  the  silver  altar,  all  a 
beautiful  piece  of  workmanship,  and  said  to  be  a  present 
to  the  cathedral. 

LA  SENORA  CARMEN  BARGAS  TURTULIAS. 

An  engagement  was  made  for  us  for  each  evening  of 
our  stay  in  Santiago.  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  of 
the  same  day  of  my  morning  visit  to  the  cathedral,  our 
party  entered  the  drawing-rooms  of  la  Senora  Carmen 
Bargas  de  Alexandri,  which  had  already  been  well  lighted 
up  and  filled  with  Chilians  of  both  sexes,  in  anticipation 
of  the  visit  of  the  Americanos  del  Norte.  We  were  in- 
troduced to  the  Senora  Carmen  Bargas,  the  interesting 
lady  of  the  Senor  Alexandri,  who  rose  from  the  sofa  and 
received  us  with  the  grace  of  an  accomplished  woman. 
Among  the  company  there  were  several  interesting  young 
ladies — some  officers  of  the  Chilian  army ;  and  an  ease 
characterized  the  association  of  the  different  members  of 
the  party,  which  divested  the  company  of  every  appear- 
ance of  embarrassing  formality.  One  of  the  young  ladies 
gave  us  music,  and  sang  with  feeling  that  evinced  the  sus- 
ceptibility of  her  nature ;  and  though  occasionally  too 
loud  in  the  strains  of  her  voice  for  the  rooms,  at  times 
her  intonations  sunk  with  most  agreeable  effect,  to  the 
pathos  and  thrill  of  the  sentiment  of  the  stanzas  she  sang. 

The  dance  is  a  universal  accomplishment  in  Chili,  and 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  287 

is  a  part  of  the  education  of  every  child,  as  much  so  as 
the  learning  of  the  letters ;  and  excellence  in  the  accom- 
plishment receives  rewards  equally  with  superiority  in 
the  departments  of  drawing  and  lessons  in  reading  and 
writing.  "  My  eldest  daughter,"  said  the  Sefiora,  on  a 
succeeding  evening,  "  received  the  prize  at  her  school  for 
drawing,  my  youngest  daughter,  for  dancing."  She  has 
two  daughters,  who  are  both  young.  The  dance  this 
evening  was  a  matter  of  course,  and  is  introduced  infor- 
mally and  as  pastime  in  the  same  way  as  music  is,  though, 
in  the  one  case,  politeness  would  induce  the  visiter  to  lis- 
ten in  silence  to  the  music,  while  he  is  at  liberty  to  observe 
the  dance  and  continue  or  not  his  conversation,  during  its 
performance.  The  grace  with  which  many  of  the  little 
girls  go  through  the  dances  peculiar  to  the  Spanish  coun- 
try, called  "  bayles  de  galpe,"  is  very  engaging.  After  a 
few  quadrilles,  in  which  I  marked  the  eye  of  la  Sefiora 
Bargas,  follow  her  elder  daughter  with  an  interest  that 
seemed  to  cause  the  mother,  for  a  moment,  to  forget  even 
herself  and  others,  though  she  too  was  in  the  dance ;  her 
younger  and  charming  little  girl,  about  eight  years  of  age, 
performed  with  a  Chilian  officer  the  native  dances,  very 
much  to  our  gratification.  The  guitar,  accompanied  by 
the  voices  of  lady  and  gentleman,  afforded  the  music  as 
they  sung  the  love  ditty,  and  the  dance  served  as  the 
graceful  pantomime.  The  little  girl  was  applauded  for  the 
grace  with  which  she  performed  her  part,  and  I  am  sure 
each  one  would  willingly  have  given  her  a  kiss  additional, 
had  it  been  admissible,  for  her  own  loveliness'  sake. 

The  succeeding  evening  la  Sefiora  Bargas  repeated 
the  little,  party  or  tertulia,  in  compliment  to  ourselves, 
when  the  company  was  varied  by  the  presence  of  others 
whom  we  had  not  seen.  A  Miss  Cortez,  however,  a 
young  lady  of  much  grace  in  her  manners  and  in  the 
dance,  and  la  Senorita  Mariquita,  a  diminutive  endear^ 
ment  for  Maria,  and  whose  family  name  I  am  unfortunate 
not  to  possess,  were  present  from  among  our  acquaintances 
of  the  preceding  evening — the  one  walking  like  a  queen, 
the  other  smiling  as  if  the  soul,  which  lighted  up  the  sweet 
expression  of  her  countenance,  had  never  dreamed  that 
the  dark  wing  of  sorrow  could  once  throw  its  shadow 

51* 


288  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD, 

within  the  circle  of  her  consciousness.  May  it  never 
reach  a  countenance  so  purely  expressive  of  a  happy  and 
innocent  heart. 

La  Senora  Carmen  Bargas  de  Alexandri  is  an  interest- 
ing specimen  of  a  Spanish  lady.  Her  husband  is  said  to 
be  rich  and  in  high  standing  with  the  government,  to 
which  he  has  afforded  at  different  times  the  essential, 
which  is  necessary  to  add  efficiency  to  the  executive. 
Youth  still  favors  this  lady  with  most  expressive  features, 
an  elasticity  of  step,  and  a  personal  appearance  which 
would  forbid  a  North  American  from  supposing  her  the 
mother  of  the  elder  of  the  two  daughters,  as  together  the 
child  and  the  mother  moved  in  the  same  waltz.  Her  step 
pressed  gently  on  the  down  of  the  flowered  Wilton  that 
carpeted  the  hall,  as  one  would  think  of  that  mental  ab- 
straction, the  muse  of  music,  treading  the  golden  edge  of 
a  sunset  cloud.  There  was  indeed  music  in  all  this  grace- 
ful woman  did,  and  more  than  English  music  in  all  she 
said,  in  the  inimitable  intonations  of  her  voice  while  speak- 
ing in  that  combination  of  all  harmonies,  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage, when  articulated  from  a  Spanish  lady's  lip. 

"The  Americans  are  very  amiable,"  she  said,  and  looked 
the  sincerity  of  her  sentiment,  as  I  occupied  a  privileged 
seat  upon  the  sofa  during  the  evening. 

"  Si  Senora,  they  should  be  so ;  and  it  is  certain  they 
give  the  Chilians  their  best  wishes  for  their  political  hap- 
piness ;  and  when  they  form  their  acquaintance  here,  it  is 
said  they  are  never  less  willing  to  return  to  their  northern 
home  than  from  Chili." 

La  Senora  Bargas  joined  not  in  the  dance  this  even- 
ing ;  and  I  thought  seemed  a  little  curious  to  know  the 
reason  why  I  should  not  have  partaken  of  the  amusement, 
so  much  the  matter  of  course  in  these  and  European 
countries. 

"  Porque  no  baila  usted,  Senor  ?"  she  asked  in  a  tone 
so  soft,  and  a  cadence  sufficiently  deferential  to  indicate 
that  she  almost  feared  she  had  put  a  question  I  might 
choose  should  have  been  left  unasked. 

I  had  presumed,  and  rightly,  that  my  profession  was 
known  to  this  interesting  lady,  which  would  have  been  a 
sufficient  reply  to  the  question  why  I  did  not  dance,  to  one 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          289 

in  our  own  country.  But  here,  I  am  told,  it  is  the  usual 
habit  of  the  Catholic  clergy  to  dance  at  the  parties  they 
may  attend,  and  to  play  at  cards,  without  a  supposition 
on  the  part  of  the  community  that  either  is  contrary  to  the 
highest  propriety  of  the  order. 

I  assured  the  Senora  that  the  sentiment  was  different 
in  our  own  country,  and  that  I  myself  deemed  the  dignity 
of  the  clerical  profession  to  be  such,  as  to  render  it  an  un- 
desirable exhibition  for  a  clergyman  to  join  in  the  dance. 

"  Y-e-s,"  said  this  beautiful  woman,  smiling  at  her  own 
pronunciation  of  this  one  English  word,  which  she  seemed 
delighted  to  have  learned  during  the  evening. 

"  Very  well"  I  repeated,  as  one  other  English  expres- 
sion, which  she  had  seized  upon  for  their  "  muy  bueno," 
and  for  the  meaning  of  which,  together  with  "good-night," 
I  had  the  pleasure  to  learn  previous  to  my  leaving  she 
considered  she  was  indebted  to  myself;  while  they  con- 
stituted the  amount  of  her  knowledge  of  the  English 
language. 

"  And  will  you  be  with  us  to-morrow  evening,  Senor  V 
she  asked,  as  if  she  could  not  be  denied. 

"  No,  Senora,"  I  replied,  without  immediately  giving  a 
reason. 

"  What !  not  to-morrow  evening,  a  feast  day,  Senor !" 

It  would  be  Sunday,  which  is  the  greatest  holiday  in 
Chili,  and  on  which  their  largest  parties  are  generally 
given ;  and  the  Senora  had  been  anticipating  a  greater 
display  of  elegance,  and  a  larger  entertainment,  on  Sun- 
day evening,  for  the  pleasure  of  her  North  American 
friends.  After  the  services  of  the  morning  on  Sunday,  the 
day  is  deemed  to  be  especially  a  day  for  visiting,  prome- 
nade, inspection  of  the  troops ;  and  the  evening  univer- 
sally regarded  as  the  period  of  the  week  for  their  parties. 
This  is  the  habit  of  the  country,  and  probably  no  suspi- 
cion, even  in  the  mind  of  the  best  Catholic  here,  ever 
awakes,  that  this  can  be  infringing  upon  the  proper  obser- 
vance of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  And  such  must  be  the 
sentiment  of  the  Catholic  priesthood.  The  astonishment 
of  la  Senora  Bargas,  therefore,  was  -undisguised,  at  my 
hesitation,  and  probably  the  first  time  in  her  life  did  this 
question,  as  one  of  Christian  propriety,  present  itself  to  her 


290          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

mind,  if  indeed  it  was  entertained  long  enough  to  gain  a 
definite  shape. 

The  evening  had  already  advanced,  and  I  had  assured 
our  interesting  hostess  that  it  was  probable  I  should  not 
be  able  again  to  call,  and  would  therefore  have  to  take 
my  final  leave  of  her  to-night.  She  was  polite  and  kind 
enough  to  dissuade,  and  hoped  that  another  call,  at  least, 
would  be  given  ;  with  particular  inquiries  when  again 
should  I  visit  Chili. 

My  regrets  were  sincere  as  I  answered  these  expres- 
sions of  good  will,  so  gently  expressed. 

The  lady  rose  from  the  sofa,  and  entered  an  interior 
room,  and  had  been  gone  but  a  short  time  when  she  re- 
appeared. Her  delicate  hand  bore  a  beautiful  flower — 
that  richest  of  all  nature's  sweet  perfumers,  the  white  jes- 
samine. She  tastefully  arranged  the  leaf  and  blossoms, 
and  extended  it  to  me,  with  a  silent  srnile,  that  said  more 
than  words  speak  of  woman's  compliment ;  and  then  added 
a  sweet  lemon,  an  equally  choice  gift  from  a  lady  in  Chili 
to  a  gentleman.  She  had  gathered  them  from  her  own 
shrubs.  I  took  them  as  I  added,  that  "  they  were  greatly 
valued  on  account  of  their  own  sweetness,  but  gained  their 
greatest  interest  to  me  from  the  hand  that  presented 
them." 

The  compliment  was  to  a  Chilian  lady,  and  perhaps 
expected.  In  this  instance  it  was  most  sincerely  paid. 
The  lady  bowed  in  acknowledgment. 

The  presentation  of  flowers  to  a  gentleman  by  a  lady 
in  Chili,  is  a  token  of  marked  respect.  The  gift  of  a  sweet 
lemon,  an  additional  expression  of  kindness ;  the  presen- 
tation of  the  hand,  a  familiar  assurance  of  regard.  I  was 
happy,  while  aware  of  the  custom  of  the  Chilian  society, 
to  receive  these  evidences  that  my  acquaintance  had  not 
proved  unacceptable. 

As  my  purpose  in  relation  to  visiting  on  the  succeed- 
ing evening  might  not  be  changed,  I  took  my  final  leave 
of  my  brief  acquaintances,  at  this  time.  And  having 
made  my  parting  compliments  to  some  others  of  the  com- 
pany, I  added,  as  I  received  the  extended  hand  of  the 
graceful  and  beautiful  woman  who  had  entertained  us, 
"  Adios,  Senora." 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  291 

It  was  rumored  during  the  week,  that  a  company 
of  French  singers,  who  had  arrived  at  Santiago,  would 
be  present  at  the  cathedral  on  Sunday,  and  join  in  the  or- 
chestra during  the  performance  of  mass.  It  was  the  fes- 
tival of  "  La  Purificacion  de  Maria  Sanctissima."*  The 
occasion,  it  was  presumed,  would  gather  a  large  number 
of  the  people  to  the  cathedral. 

We  had  expected  that  some  of  the  friends  whom  we 
had  met  would  be  present,  and  were  interested,  in  the 
novelty  of  the  scene  presented  to  us,  to  mark  them  in  their 
worshipping  attire. 

We  had  not  long  been  in  the  seat  we  occupied,  while 
the  area  before  us  had  been  filled,  when  I  observed  a 
graceful  figure  walking  up  the  distant  space,  between  us 
and  the  entrances  of  the  cathedral,  attended  by  a  female 
friend  and  a  maid  bearing  behind  them  a  beautiful  rug. 
She  approached  by  the  central  division  of  the  building. 
Her  mantilla  consisted  of  a  dark  lace  veil,  thrown  over 
her  tastefully  plaited  hair  and  clasped  with  a  gold  brooch 
on  the  left  side  of  her  head.  It  was  the  air  and  the  per- 
son of  la  Senora  Carmen  Bargas.  The  maid  had  spread 
her  mat,  and  the  Senora  knelt.  Her  ungloved  hands  re- 
posed across  each  other,  upon  the  bosom  of  her  dark 
dress,  as  she  prayed. 

There  are  no  sympathies  of  the  human  bosom  more 
sacred  and  deeply  felt,  than  those  which  awake  in  con- 
nection with  religion.  Its  associations  relate  to  all  that  is 
most  dear  in  the  long  welfare  of  one's  self,  and  one's 
friend. 

Not  long  where  she  worshipped,  the  Senora  knelt,  but 
in  another  moment  she  rose,  and,  attended  by  her  friend, 
and  followed  by  her  maid,  passed  along  the  side  altars,  to 
gain  a  more  convenient  and  nearer  position  to  the  main 
altar  than  she  possessed  in  front.  Her  eye  had  not  seen 
us  ;  and  as  she  moved  lightly  by  the  side  altar  opposite  to 
us,  she  presented  to  me  my  last  view  of  the  graceful 
Senora  of  Santiago. 

*  In  the  Chilian  Almanac  for  1840,  the  following  note  is  attached 
to  the  notice  of  this  feast,  opposite  Feb.  2d :  "  Idulgencia  plenoria 
en  Santo  Domingo  y  la  catedral." 


292          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  circumstance  that  quite  a 
number  of  the  best  families  of  Santiago  were  out  of  town, 
at  their  country  residences.  It  is  usual  for  them  to  retire 
from  the  city  in  the  summer  season,  more  or  less,  to  these 
situations,  many  of  which  are  said  to  be  very  pleasantly 
located.  They  are  called  quintas,  chacras,  haciendas, 
respectively,  as  they  may  be  larger  or  smaller  farms  or 
estates.  Our  short  stay  at  Santiago  prevented  us  from 
accepting  proffered  courtesies,  which  would  have  gratified 
us  much,  could  we  have  availed  ourselves  of  them,  to 
visit  some  of  these  country  residences.  We  however 
visited  the  quinta  of  one  of  the  principal  families  of  the 
capita),  situated  on  the  borders  of  the  city.  The  family's 
name  is  Alcade.  The  estate  of  this  family  is  said  to  be 
entailed,  and  its  possessions  to  be  very  large,  if  not  the 
richest  of  any  family  in  Chili.  These  entails  have  ceased 
to  exist  in  all  cases  in  Chili,  except  where  the  elder  sons 
•were  born  before  the  year  when  the  law  of  primogeni- 
ture was  abrogated  by  the  Chilian  congress.  The  family 
name  of  la  Senora  Alcade  is  Velasco.  We  had  the  plea- 
sure of  seeing  this  lady,  and  her  two  daughters,  las  Se- 
noritas  Carmen  and  Carolina. 

We  were  introduced  to  several  other  families,  of  some  of 
which,  as  evidence  of  acceptable  memories  of  our  calls,  I 
here  make  mention. 

La  Senora  Gamera  was  at  home,  who  is  a  lady  of  com- 
manding appearance.  She  has  a  son  in  the  Chilian  navy, 
which  led  her  to  express  an  interest  she  felt  towards  offi- 
cers of  the  same  profession  of  other  nations,  and  particu- 
larly the  American.  Her  two  daughters  were  out,  but  if 
we  could  in  our  short  stay  at  Santiago  (on  account  of 
which  she  politely  expressed  regrets)  find  it  convenient  to 
call,  her  daughters  would  give  us  music.  As  we  rose  to 
take  our  leave,  she  said,  with  an  air  of  great  kindness,  and 
after  the  custom  which  characterizes  the  polite  manners 
of  the  Chilians,  "  Mi  casa  esta  a  su  disposicion,"  equiva- 
lent to  our  English,  "  You  may  be  assured  that  you  will 
always  be  welcomed  at  my  house ;"  literally,  "  my  house 
is  at  your  disposition."  A  similar  assurance  was  given  us 
by  the  lady  of  each  family,  on  which  we  had  been  privi- 
leged to  call  during  our  brief  stay  at  the  capital. 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  293 

At  Mrs.  Castilla's  we  were  favored  with  music  from 
the  eldest  of  the  daughters,  la  Senorita  Carmen ;  and  the 
youngest  sister,  Amadora,  presented  us  a  beautiful  bouquet 
from  their  garden.  The  names  of  the  other  two  sisters 
are  Transita  and  Juana.  The  family  has  some  French 
blood  in  its  lineage ;  and  the  Castilian  and  the  Gallic  pre- 
sented, in  the  exhibition  of  the  four  daughters,  a  combina- 
tion of  vivacity  and  sentiment  that  seemed  the  union  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  two  nations.  The  floating  eye 
of  la  Senorita  Carmen  spoke  not  more  sensitively  than  the 
delicate  flush  of  the  cheek,  which  came  and  went  like 
mimic  floods  and  ebbs  over  her  fine  brunette  features,  to 
tell  the  changing  passage  of  her  thoughts  and  sentiments. 
The  complexions  of  the  other  sisters  were  lighter,  one  with 
lily  cheeks,  the  other  two  with  cheeks  of  roseate. 

We  also  had  the  pleasure  of  making  our  compliments 
to  the  family  of  Mr.  Ochagania,  resident  at  the  mint,  who 
is  himself  its  superintendent.  Mr.  O.  was  once  in  the 
United  States  as  an  attache  to  a  Chilian  legation,  and 
seems  a  very  worthy  gentleman.  His  wife  and  two  daugh- 
ters struck  us  as  most  worthy,  and  more  intellectual  than 
others  whom  we  had  met.  They  served  for  us  a  great 
variety  of  fruit;  and  there  seemed  an  air  of  domestic 
kindness  in  the  family  that  I  greatly  admired.  The 
younger  of  the  daughters,  la  Senorita  Manuel  a,  spoke 
French,  and  possessed  some  knowledge  of  the  Italian ; 
and  the  elder,  la  Senorita  Rosa,  I  should  deem  a  pattern 
of  goodness.  We  left  this  family,  impressed  with  a  high 
consideration  for  their  worth. 

THE    PRESIDENT    OF    CHILI. 

The  name  of  the  President  of  Chili  is  Joaquin  Prieto. 
Our  attentive  Charge  accompanied  us  to  the  President's 
house,  which  fronts  the  public  plaza.  There  are  always 
more  or  less  of  the  guards  seen  at  the  portal  that  opens  to 
the  court  through  which  one  passes  to  the  President's 
apartments.  In  the  same  pile  of  buildings  with  the  Presi- 
dent's residence,  forming  nearly  one  complete  side  of  the 
plaza,  are  the  Senate  Chamber,  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  the  public  prison.  We  were  received  by  the 


294  A    VOYAGE    AROUXD    THE    WORLD. 

President's  Aid,  and  soon  the  President  presented  himself. 
His  manners  are  courteous  and  dignified,  though  easy ;  and 
his  personal  appearance  the  finest  of  any  Chilian  gentle- 
man I  have  met.  He  has  served  nearly  two  terms  ;  and 
according  to  the  constitution  of  Chili  is  ineligible  to  another 
election.  His  second  term  expires  in  a  few  months.  Ru- 
mor says  the  office  of  President  here  is  regarded  too 
much  as  a  post  for  making  money,  rather  than  a  position 
that  excites  in  its  occupant  a  laudable  ambition  to  promote 
his  country's  best  welfare.  The  government  of  Chili, 
however,  it  is  supposed,  has  become  more  settled  and  per- 
manent in  stability,  both  as  to  its  measures  and  political 
tranquillity,  under  the  administration  of  the  present  occu- 
pant of  the  presidency,  than  has  characterized  its  former 
existence.  The  party  now  in  power  and  the  priesthood 
are  united ;  and  while  they  remain  so,  public  tranquillity 
is  to  be  expected.  The  interests  of  the  church  are  so 
great,  that  any  measures  against  its  privileges  will  con- 
tinue to  agitate  the  internal  peace  of  the  state.  The  Chi- 
lians are  high  in  the  estimate  of  their  own  prowess  at  the 
present  moment,  in  consequence  of  their  late  successes  in 
their  expedition  against  Lima. 

The  time  for  our  leaving  the  agreeable  capital  of  Chili 
had  come.  And  though  we  had  spent  but  a  few  days  at 
Santiago,  I  had  occasion  to  make  many  notes  of  interest, 
to  myself  at  least,  in  connection  with  my  visit.  But  the 
necessity  of  closing  this  volume  with  the  addition  of  but  a 
few  more  pages,  will  prevent  me  from  extending  my  no- 
tices of  the  capital  of  Chili.  The  same  will  be  true  of 
Valparaiso  and  Lima,  to  which  a  volume  should  be  devoted 
to  do  justice  to  the  interest  which  these  places,  at  a  time 
beyond  the  moment  of  which  I  am  now  writing,  secured 
in  my  own  feelings,  and  gratified  curiosity,  and  experience. 
I  therefore  of  necessity  shall  delay,  for  another  place,  more 
extended  notices  of  these  cities,  and  incidents  connected 
with  them,  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America.  I  pro- 
ceed, however,  to  occupy  the  brief  space  yet  remaining 
to  me,  in  completing  the  pages  of  these  two  volumes. 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          295 


RETURN  FROM  SANTIAGO. 

Having  taken  leave  of  our  attentive  Charge  d'Affaires, 
to  whom  we  were  greatly  indebted  for  much  of  the  plea- 
sure which  attended  our  visit  to  the  capital  of  Chili,  we 
left  Santiago  on  Monday  evening,  the  third  of  February, 
and  were  in  fair  prospect  of  making  half  way  of  our  dis- 
tance in  very  good  humor  with  ourselves,  when,  by  some 
spite  of  our  postillion,  and  the  injured  sensibilities  of  the 
spirited  steed  within  the  shafts,  said  steed  took  it  into  his 
head  that,  with  the  assistance  of  his  heels,  he  would  clear 
himself  from  all  further  connection  with  the  establishment. 
He  therefore  commenced  his  alto  relievo  gesticulation  of 
the  hind  feet,  to  the  great  endangerment  of  the  heads  of 
the  passengers,  and  to  the  demolishment  of  the  washboard 
of  the  gig,  and  the  fracturing  of  the  first  bow  of  the  calash- 
top,  an  inch  and  a  half  square,  as  if  it  had  been  a  stick  of 
bamboo.  I  took  counsel  with  myself  to  throw  myself  out 
of  the  gig  at  one  of  the  intervals  when  his  feet  and  the 
calash-top  were  furthest  apart  from  each  other ;  and  with 
concern  cast  back  a  look  the  moment  I  had  landed  upon 
the  ground,  for  my  friend,  the  professor  of  mathematics. 
To  my  considerable  alarm  I  found,  that  instead  of  throw- 
ing himself  out  the  opposite  side  from  myself,  he  had  pre- 
ferred my  own,  and  by  some  means  of  delay  was  tripped 
as  the  horses  began  to  wheel  in  the  road  ;  and  though  the 
professor  performed  several  evolutions  by  rolling  in  the 
dust,  the  tramp  of  the  horses'  feet  neared  him  faster  than 
the  circles  and  quadrants  he  performed  distanced  their 
proximity.  Fortunately  the  shaft-horse,  at  this  instant, 
cleared  himself  from  all  encumbrances  of  the  establish- 
ment, and  the  two  riders  snapped  the  hide-cords  which 
attached  their  horses  to  the  same  vehicle.  The  frightened 
animal  of  the  shafts  was  in  full  speed  on  the  road,  while 
his  harness  served  to  goad  him  on.  One  of  the  riders  in 
an  instant  put  off  in  chase,  as  he  swung  the  lasso  around 
his  head.  In  another  moment  the  curls  of  the  swinging 
coil  elongated  themselves  as  the  rope  straightened,  and 
the  noose,  true  to  the  cast,  dropped  over  the  neck  of  the 
runaway.  The  animal  was  soon  brought  to  a  halt,  and 

52 


296  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

returned  to  the  vehicle.  The  irritated  Chilian  belabored 
the  trembling  beast  until  I  bespoke  mercy  for  him,  when 
he  was  again  affixed  to  the  shafts ;  and  the  two  riders, 
with  horses  on  either  side,  advanced  again  on  our  way. 
We  soon  reached  the  foot  of  the  first  mountain,  and  were 
at  the  top  of  the  pass  of  the  Cuesta  del  Prado  a  short  time 
after,  from  which  we  descended  with  a  fearful  rapidity, 
as  the  night  had  already  come  upon  us,  while  the  bright 
stars,  in  the  absence  of  the  moon,  looked  still  benignantly 
from  their  deep  blue  above  us. 

We  reached  Valparaiso  the  succeeding  evening,  in  time 
for  tea. 


The  English  Admiral,  on  the  Pacific  station,  is  Charles 
Ross,  Rear- Admiral  of  the  white.  Mrs.  Ross  and  her  two 
sisters,  the  Misses  Ball,  are  the  ladies  of  his  family.  They 
have  a  house  on -the  Almendral,  surrounded  by  a  consid- 
erable collection  of  flowers  and  shrubs.  The  residence  is 
fitted  up  under  the  directions  and  taste  of  Mrs.  Ross,  and 
called  "  The  Admiralty  House."  Here  Mrs.  Ross  gives 
her  soirees,  once  a  fortnight.  The  day  succeeding  my 
return  from  Santiago  I  dined  at  the  Admiral's.  Commo- 
dore Read  was  too  unwell,  with  a  cold  taken  in  his  ride 
from  Santiago,  to  comply  with  the  invitation  of  the  Ad- 
miral. The  officers  of  the  Admiral's  fleet,  at  dinner,  were 
Captain  Mainwaring  of  the  Electra,  the  Admiral's  Secre- 
tary, and  Captain  Shepherd,  of  the  Sparrowhawk,  whom 
I  had  previously  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro. 

Miss  Price  was  one  of  the  pretty  ladies  at  the  table, 
possessed  of  a  face  that  interests  for  its  expression,  and 
one  that  leaves  its  memory  traced  in  the  mind  for  future 
days,  without  an  effort  on  the  part  of  another  to  place  it 
there,  as  a  treasure  among  the  interesting  visions  one 
would  wish  to  retain. 

The  Admiral's  lady  is  as  worthy  of  admiration  for  her 
fine  personal  appearance  as  the  Admiral  himself  evidently 
believes  her  to  be.  Mrs.  Ross  was  dressed  in  a  rich  black 
velvet,  with  its  bosom  cut  low  and  edged  with  wide  lace. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  297 

She  reminded  me  of  our  fair  countrywoman,  who  has 
awakened  interest  at  home  and  admiration  abroad,  and 
formed  a  beautiful  subject  for  the  imitative  and  successful 
chisel  of  Greenough,  in  Florence. 

Mrs.  R.  gave  us  music,  and  executes  with  taste,  and 
sung  with  a  voice  of  much  sweetness.  "But  I  would 
much  rather  paint  well,"  she  said,  "  than  excel  in  music, 
for  I  could  give  a  friend  a  drawing  that  would  long  serve 
to  recall  me  in  memory,  when  the  song  that  is  sung  is  soon 
forgotten."  This  was  a  very  pretty  but  unintentional  in- 
troduction to  the  display  of  a  valued  scrap-book,  which 
Mrs.  R.  opened  for  me,  containing  several  pretty  sketches. 
But  I  have  forgotten  them  all,  while  I  yet  retain  the  me- 
mory of  the  air  she  gave  us : 

"  O  sing  not  to  me  thy  song,  sweet  bird." 

The  two  sisters  performed  a  duet ;  and,  at  my  request, 
added,  , 

"  The  minute-gun  at  sea." 

Mrs.  C.  and  two  daughters,  residents  of  Santiago,  joined 
the  party  in  the  evening.  I  talked  of  Wales  with  Miss  B., 
a  country  of  no  little  interest,  for  its  picturesque  in  scene- 
ry and  other  associations.  Miss  B.  admired  the  land  of 
her  young  associations ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  all  admira- 
tion for  the  truth  of  its  people,  when  it  gives  birth  to 
such  a  character  as  Miss  Clarendon,  of  romantic  associa- 
tion. 

The  stars  were  bright  this  evening,  as  I  attended  Miss 
Price  from  the  Admiral's,  while  the  party,  together,  were 
moving  along  the  Almendral. 

"  I  often  read  the  beautiful  skies  with  my  father  at 
night,"  she  said,  "  when  we  were  coming  from  England 
here."  She  had  been  to  England  for  her  education.  Her 
mother  was  a  Spanish  woman  of  Santiago.  "  And  the 
Southern  Cross,  do  you  say  that  is  it?"  she  asked,  as  it 
was  pointed  out  to  her.  "I  wish  I  could  have  had  confi- 
dence enough  to  insist  that  it  was  there,  when  a  gentleman 
assured  me  a  few  days  since,  that  it  was  not  seen  in  this 
latitude.  But  I  could  not  pretend  to  be  so  much  of  the 
astronomer  as  himself,  though  I  thought  I  knew  it ;"  and 


298  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

the  pretty  and  modest  young  lady  at  the  same  moment 
dropped  her  diamond  ear-rings  and  bracelet,  which  glit- 
tered like  the  night  brilliants  above  us,  into  my  hand, 
while  she  adjusted  the  shawl  over  her  dress  of  short  sleeves, 
heavily  laced.  We  were  soon  at  the  residence  which 
they  occupy  during  the  warm  season,  when  many  of  the 
Santiago  families  visit  the  coast  for  sea  beathing,  of  which 
they  are  extravagantly  fond. 

The  captains,  whom  I  now  accompanied  to  the  dock, 
politely  offered  me  a  passage  to  the  frigate  in  their  boat, 
which  was  waiting  for  them,  but  I  excused  myself  for  a 
room  on  shore,  already  engaged  for  the  night. 

TAKING    LEAVE    OF    VALPARAISO. 

The  following  day  it  was  expected  we  would  sail.  I 
therefore  made  my  last  calls  upon  the  American  families  to 
whose  courtesies  I  had  been  indebted  during  my  occasional 
visits  to  the  shore  at  Valparaiso.  These  families  were 
ever  free  in  the  proffers  of  their  politeness,  in  my  own  case 
at  least,  beyond  the  power  of  my  accepting  it. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chauncey  are  about  to  return  to  America, 
with  the  reputation  of  having  secured  a  handsome  amount 
of  the  sine  qui  non  for  living  comfortably  and  genteelly 
after  the  estimates  of  modern  times,  which  have  strangely 
varied  in  many  particulars  from  the  days  of  our  plainer 
forefathers. 

He  who  rightly  reads  the  human  mind,  will  at  once 
detect  that  gentleness  of  character  which  constitutes,  in 
woman,  one  of  the  greatest  charms  of  female  excellence. 
It  matters  not  where  it  is  found,  among  the  highest  and 
most  refined,  or  the  humbler  and  impoverished.  We  give 
it  our  deference  in  respect,  and  affection  in  association. 
So  I  thought  as  I  said  adieu  to  Mrs.  W.,  a  lady  of  piety 
and  worth. 

The  family  of  our  consul  was  the  last  I  called  upon,  to 
say  adieu.  We  had  learned  to  esteem  them,  and  felt 
regret  that  we  should  so  soon  be  deprived  of  their  amiable 
society.  I  had  on  a  previous  occasion  casually  remarked, 
that  I  had  omitted  to  secure  some  curiosities  which  I  in- 
tended to  purchase  at  the  nunneries  in  Santiago.  As  I 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          299 

was  now  about  to  leave  the  consul's,  Mrs.  H.  called  my 
attention  to  the  pier-table,  on  the  marble  slab  of  which  were 
a  collection  of  the  particular  articles  I  desired.  "  Take  these, 
Mr.  T. ;  you  hurried  away  so  soon  the  other  day  that  I 
had  no  opportunity  to  offer  them  to  you."  I  saw  my  di- 
lemma, in  which  the  unintentional  notice  of  my  omission 
while  at  Santiago  and  Mrs.  H.'s  generous  benevolence 
placed  me,  for  I  have  always  felt  a  delicacy  in  accepting 
what  I  know  to  have  been  secured  by  others  as  curiosities 
for  themselves.  I  therefore  availed  myself  of  two  or  three 
of  these  handiwork  oddities  of  the  Santiago  nuns.  "  Take 
them  all,  Mr.  T.,  we  can  get  any  quantity  of  them  we 
wish."  The  command  was  repeated,  and  could  not  be 
avoided  when  coming  with  so  much  sincerity  and  generous 
good  feeling,  which  had  often  displayed  itself  from  the 
same  amiable  source,  connected  with  that  lady-like  deli- 
cacy of  manner  which  so  certainly  secures  one's  deferen- 
tial consideration  and  kindness  of  feeling  in  the  social  in- 
tercourse. Mrs.  Hobson  has  a  tasteful  collection  of  a 
variety  of  curiosities,  arranged,  as  they  should  be,  in  small 
private  collections,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  pleasure  to 
the  curious  rather  than  for  the  instruction  of  the  scientific, 
— shells,  and  minerals,  and  vases,  et  csetera.  While  I  was 
yet  lingering  over  the  pier-table,  delaying  the  final  adieu 
to  this  amiable  family,  the  sun  had  thrown  the  broad  sha- 
dow of  the  hill-side  far  out  on  the  bay,  as  his  rays  still  fell, 
in  their  slant,  on  the  inner  side  of  the  frigate.  The  ship- 
ping, with  their  hulls,  like  the  houses  of  the  city,  lay  in  the 
shadows  of  the  Altos  de  Valparaiso,  while  the  tops  of  their 
highest  spars  were  yet  gilded  by  his  beams.  The  pennant 
of  the  frigate  still  waved  ;  showing  that  the  sundown  hour 
had  not  yet  come,  though  the  sun  himself  was  lost  to  the 
citizens  below.  The  frigate's  boat  was  seen  pulling  for 
the  shore,  and  in  another  moment,  was  at  the  pier.  I  said 
adieu  to  my  friends,  and  wound  down  the  hill  on  which 
the  American  residences  are  seen  overlooking  the  city  and 
the  harbor,  and  in  a  moment  more  was  in  the  boat.  "  Shove 
off,"  was  the  order  of  the  officer.  "  Let  fall  together," 
was  his  second  command.  The  oars  fell  into  their  places, 
and  the  dip  of  their  blades  soon  sent  the  cutter  clear  from 
the  dock.  As  I  cast  back  a  look  to  the  city,  which  now 

52* 


300  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

I  cared  not  again  to  see,  my  eye  rested  on  the  most  pro- 
minent and  the  most  pleasant  site  of  the  American  dwell- 
ings>  Our  friends  were  on  their  charming  promenade, 
full  in  view,  and  in  front  of  their  elevated  houses.  Their 
eyes  were  a  moment  upon  us ;  and  we  fancied  they  gave 
us  a  second  and  final  farewell,  as  the  boat  to  the  regular 
dip  of  the  oars  now  rapidly  glided  over  the  waters  of  the 
bay  to  the  frigate,  lying  at  her  moorings  without  the  ship- 
ping of  the  inner  harbor. 


SECTION    XL 


CALLAO    AND    LIMA. 

The  Carnival.  Ride  to  Lima.  The  city  deserted.  Ride  to  Chorillos. 
Limanian  lady  on  horseback.  A  man  beguiled  of  his  rest.  A  wet  mid- 
shipman.  Ash- Wednesday  in  Lima.  Saya  y  manto.  The  beautiful  Se- 
norita  receiving  the  dark  cross  on  her  brow.  Descriptions  of  Lima  neces- 
sarily brief.  Cathedral  vault  containing  Pizarro's  remains.  Evening  walk. 
Host  for  the  Infirmo.  The  cry  of  the  night-watch. 

A  PASSAGE  of  eleven  days  found  us  in  the  harbor  of  Cal- 
lao,  where  we  anchored  at  midnight  on  February  27th, 
1840.  The  succeeding  morning  I  took  a  ramble  on  shore 
to  inspect  the  town  of  Callao,  but  found  nothing  there  of 
interest  save  the  castles.  Of  these,  and  their  thrilling  as- 
sociations, I  defer  my  descriptions. 

The  carnival,  the  bacchanalia  before  Lent  in  Catholic 
countries,  occurs  here  during  the  next  three  days  of  Sun- 
day, Monday,  and  Tuesday ;  and  all  advised  that  our  in- 
tended excursion  to  Lima  should  be  postponed  beyond  the 
latter  day,  as  we  might  be  subjected  to  the  inconvenience 
of  frequently  changing  our  dresses,  as  all  persons,  stran- 
gers, priest,  president,  and  every  passer-by,  are  deemed 
just  objects  for  a  shower-bath,  whenever  a  boy  from  the 
street  or  mischief-making  girl  from  the  balcony,  or  playful 
friends  or  ill-disposed  enemies  choose  to  throw  water  upon 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  301 

the  wanderer  in  the  street.  But  we  chose  to  witness  the 
manners  of  the  people,  even  at  the  expense  of  a  few  wet 
jackets. 

RIDE    PROM    CALLAO    TO    LIMA. 

On  Monday  morning,  therefore,  in  company  with  Com- 
modore Read,  Captain  Bigelow  of  the  Shark,  and  Prof. 
Belcher,  I  started  for  Lima.  Once  it  was  deemed  pru- 
dent for  the  passenger  between  Callao  and  Lima,  though 
a  distance  of  only  seven  or  nine  miles,  to  bear  his  arms 
for  self-defence,  if  he  would  save  his  purse-strings  from 
being  drawn  by  the  Salteadores,  a  certain  class  of  neces- 
sitous gentlemen,  dwellers  on  the  road,  who  deem  them- 
selves at  liberty  to  take  from  the  peaceable  traveller  not 
only  his  money  but  his  clothes  also,  if  he  should  happen 
to  have  the  presumption  to  make  any  complaint  of  the 
manner  of  their  salutation. 

The  topics  of  olden  thieves,  robbers,  and  murderers, 
and  the  olden  carnival,  afforded  subjects  of  conversation 
as  our  coach  rolled  on,  and  each  one  adjusted  himself  in 
preparation  for  the  sudden  appearance  in  the  atmosphere 
of  any  gathering  water-spouts ;  while  it  was  conceded,  if 
an  unexpected  attack  from  the  Salteadores  should  make 
opposition  to  our  advance,  our  protection  would  devolve 
upon  the  Commodore,  who  alone  wore  a  weapon  of  de- 
fence. We  wheeled  up  to  the  half-way  house,  where, 
formerly,  in  consequence  of  these  lawless  brigands  frequent- 
ing the  road,  a  guard  was  stationed  by  the  government. 
A  church  is  its  only  neighboring  building.  The  Lima 
coach  having  anticipated  us  a  few  moments,  was  already 
at  the  stand,  filled  with  passengers  on  their  holiday  ride 
to  Callao.  Another  three  quarters  of  an  hour's  ride 
brought  us  to  the  entrance  of  the  city,  the  road  leading  to 
the  gate  being  lined  without  the  walls  with  willows,  on 
either  side,  presenting  a  welcome  and  beautiful  relief  to 
the  eye  in  contrast  to  the  parched  and  dusty  road,  which 
we  had  passed  over  from  Callao.  From  this  avenue, 
called  the  Alameda  de  la  Portada,  we  passed  beneath  a 
heavy  arched  gateway  into  the  storied  city  of  Pizarro, 
"the  city  of  kings,"  with  its  "thousand  towers  and  hundred 


302          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

gates."  And  this  is  Lima,  "the  city  of  the  free,"  the  field 
of  Pizarro's  dreams  and  proud  success,  and  the  spot  of  his 
assassination  and  burial.  Story,  as  delineated  on  the  his- 
toric page,  has  thrown  much  that  is  romantic,  tragic,  and 
poetic  about  this  olden  city  of  the  new  world.  Its  super- 
stitions and  manners  have  continued  to  perpetuate  the 
mystic  interest  of  other  days,  while  the  grandeur  of  its 
silver  and  golden  age  has  passed  away,  and  the  powers 
of  a  once  unquestioned  priesthood  waned,  in  the  levelling 
process  of  revolutions  and  the  introduction  of  the  privilege 
of  freer  thought. 

We  found  the  city  like  a  deserted  hall,  where  the 
throng  have  been  threading  their  way  and  the  buzz  of 
many  voices  heard,  but  when  the  muffled  step  and  the 
mingled  accents  of  the  crowd  have  passed  away.  All 
the  shops  were  closed — scarcely  an  individual  was  seen 
moving  through  the  streets — the  "saya  y  manto"  was 
nowhere  moving  abroad — the  cowled  priest  retained  his 
cell — the  curvetting  steed  gnawed  in  his  stall,  and  his  rich 
laced  rider  lounged  in  the  sala  upon  settee,  enjoying  his 
cigarros,  while  the  Sefiorita  forgot  herself  in  the  dreams 
of  the  siesta  or  rambled  in  the  private  grounds  of  the  gar- 
den— all  alike  unwilling  to  venture  beyond  the  puertecalle 
of  their  houses  ;  while  the  boys,  now  sole  heirs  and  exclu- 
sive possessors  of  the  streets  of  the  city,  were  gathered 
here  and  there  in  groups,  and  carrying  on  a  warfare  of 
water.  Occasionally  a  group  of  figures  might  be  seen  in 
some  balcony  raising  a  shout  of  glee,  as  they  poured  the 
shower  of  water  upon  the  head  of  some  solitary  and  un- 
wary wight  who  had  ventured  beyond  discretion  in  his 
rambles  on  this,  one  of  the  days  of  the  carnival. 

Our  rooms  having  been  secured,  I  ventured  forth  on  a 
stroll  through  the  city,  notwithstanding  the  caution  re- 
ceived, and  the  assurance  that  neither  stranger  nor  inti- 
mate could  rely  on  any  favors  or  deference.  But  I  wan- 
dered unmolested,  though  I  passed  by  many  a  suspicious 
balcony,  window,  and  portal,  and  saw  others,  the  occa- 
sionally few  that  were  moving,  deriving  all  the  benefits 
of  the  season. 

I  reached  the  Plaza  de  la  Independencia,  or  principal 
public  square  of  Lima.  On  the  north  side  is  the  palace  of 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  303 

Pizarro  ;  on  the  east,  the  spacious  cathedral ;  on  the  south 
and  west,  two  portales,  or  covered  walks,  their  arches 
and  colonnades  supporting  irregular  balconies,  where  are 
several  public  offices,  the  house  of  the  municipality,  the 
prison,  and  some  private  residences ;  while  the  centre  of 
the  plaza  contains  a  brazen  fountain,  forty  feet  high, 
crowned  with  the  goddess  of  fame,  with  the  trumpet  in 
her  hand,  and  the  tube  to  her  lip  for  the  blast.  The 
streams  of  water  are  pouring  from  many  mouths  of  masked 
faces,  falling  from  two  capacious  and  elevated  basins  into 
the  general  reservoir,  seventy-two  feet  in  circumference, 
whose  upper  rim  is  ornamented  with  lions  and  lizards. 
The  whole  is  a  cast  of  bell-metal ;  and,  from  an  inscrip- 
tion upon  the  pedestal,  was  placed  in  its  present  position 
one  hundred  and  ninety  years  ago.  As  I  entered  the  plaza 
there  were  no  sounds  of  the  busy  multitude,  here  usually 
heard  in  mingled  hum — the  shops  were  closed — the 
traders'  stands  removed,  and  only  one  group  of  moving 
beings  before  the  portal  of  the  palace  seen,  while  the  drip- 
ping of  the  fountain,  and  the  purling  of  its  many  running 
spouts,  gave  forth  their  refreshing  sound  as  they  mingled 
together  in  the  common  reservoir  beneath.  It  was  like 
the  still  reign  of  a  Sabbath  at  home — not  like  a  Sabbath 
abroad.  At  this  moment,  however,  a  blast  from  French 
horns  at  a  point  diagonally  from  the  corner  of  the  plaza 
where  I  had  entered  and  still  stood,  came  across  the  square, 
and  the  bugle  and  clarion  joined  in  the  strain,  as  the  blast 
swelled  louder  and  louder,  when,  immediately  opposite 
me  a  coach  and  four,  preceded  by  a  herald  and  two  lan- 
cers, and  followed  by  a  dozen  other  mounted  lancers, 
entered  the  plaza.  The  heel  of  the  lance  of  the  out-riders 
rested  on  the  right  stirrup  of  each,  as  the  right  hand 
clasped  the  perpendicular  shaft,  to  which  was  attached  a 
red  streamer,  that  quivered  in  the  breeze  as  they  passed 
on.  It  was  the  coach  of  the  President  of  Peru,  the  Ga- 
mara,  whose  position  and  story  I  envy  not.  Like  many 
of  the  citizens  who  had  preceded  him  to  the  country,  the 
President  was  on  his  way  to  Miraflores,  a  neighboring 
village,  to  escape  the  town  during  the  remaining  days  of 
the  carnival.  Again  the  strain  from  the  bugles  came  over 
the  plaza  on  the  still  and  hushed  air,  as  the  noble  steeds 


304          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

passed  on  in  their  measured  trot,  when  all  was  still  again, 
and  the  buglers  dispersed  to  the  palace. 

DRIVE    TO    CHORILLOS. 

All  Lima,  or  the  genteeler  part  of  it,  having  vacated 
the  capital,  (so  we  were  told,)  and  a  great  proportion  of 
the  Lima  society  being  at  Chorillos,  a  bathing-place  seven 
or  eight  miles  from  the  city,  we  were  willing  to  take  a 
ride  to  this  watering-place,  to  spend  the  succeeding  and 
last  day  of  the  carnival.  It  was  supposed  a  favorable 
opportunity  for  seeing  the  Limanians,  in  the  short  time 
we  should  have  to  spend,  and  we  started  sufficiently  early 
to  take  breakfast  at  the  hotel  in  Chorillos,  which  is  kept 
by  the  same  individual  at  whose  house  we  were  stopping 
in  Lima. 

The  morning  was  delightful.  We  had  passed  by  some 
rich  meadows  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lima,  reminding 
us,  in  the  similarity  of  their  grasses,  of  our  own  meadows 
at  home ;  and  a  short  distance  without  the  gate  of  the 
city,  a  genteel  calesa,  W7hich  had  preceded  us  with  a  young 
Limanian  lady  returning  from  mass,  turned  into  the  pre- 
mises of  one  of  the  largest  but  now  litigated  estates  of 
Peru.  The  birds,  along  the  early  part  of  our  drive,  were 
up  and  regaling  the  early  passenger  on  the  road  with  their 
songs,  more  than  ever  sweet  to  one  who  has  so  long  been 
listening  only  to  the  sea-moan  and  the  storm-dirge,  as  it 
wails  through  the  cordage  of  the  ship.  We  soon  found 
ourselves  not  the  only  persons  abroad,  while  we  were 
pleased  with  ourselves  for  having  taken  the  early  ride, 
and  came  up  with  a  party  on  horseback,  on  the  same 
course  with  ourselves.  The  principal  object  of  interest  in 
the  group  was  a  young  Limanian  lady,  mounted  upon  a 
spirited  and  well-groomed  steed,  which  she  managed  with 
perfect  ease  and  confidence,  while  her  maid  was  riding 
near  her,  and  her  father  and  others  of  the  company  some 
rods  in  the  rear.  Her  light  straw  hat,  with  its  brim  free, 
sat  lightly  upon  her  head,  as  her  hair,  in  a  long  and  auburn 
braid,  fell  over  her  white  poncho,  which  hung  like  a  shawl 
over  her  shoulders  low  to  the  saddle,  and  prettily  edged 
with  a  border  of  worked  flowers.  She  sat  easily  in  her 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  305 

pillioned  saddle,  as  the  toe  of  her  satin  slipper,  which 
graced  a  small  foot,  occupied  a  morocco  stirrup,  display- 
ing an  ankle  encased  in  a  silk  stocking  and  half  concealed 
in  the  ruffles  of  a  pantalette.  The  bridle  of  her  horse  was 
heavily  silvered,  with  a  crescent  ornament  of  the  same 
material  floating  freely  beneath  the  throat  of  her  noble 
animal.  A  light  and  ornamented  collar  and  breeching,  a 
la  Espanola,  was  attached  to  the  saddle,  preserving  it 
steadily  in  front  and  behind ;  and  the  reins  of  the  bridle 
terminated  in  a  braided  lash  that  swept  to  the  ground. 
She  rode  sideways,  unlike  most  of  the  Limanian  belles, 
who,  like  their  brunette  sisters  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
mostly  ride  a  calif  our  chons.  We  paused  a  moment,  after 
having  slowly  passed  this  party  in  our  calesa,  and  had 
come  up  to  a  little  chacra  on  the  road-side.  The  young 
lady  curvetted  by  us,  but,  as  the  voice  of  her  father 
reached  her,  she  changed  the  direction  of  her  horse,  as 
he  caracalled,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  party,  gracefully 
came  up  to  the  stand.  The  father  dismounted  and  passed 
refreshments  to  the  party. 

"  Strangers  in  Lima,  Senores,  we  presume,"  said  the 
easy  Spaniard,  addressing  ourselves.  "  Will  you  join  us 
in  Italia  de  Pisco,"  filling  the  small  glasses,  from  which  the 
mother  and  daughter  had  but  slightly  moistened  their  lips, 
and  which,  in  comparison  with  our  larger  wine  glasses,  in 
size,  were  like  the  tea-cups  of  our  grandmothers,  in  con- 
trast with  our  modern  and  larger  proportioned  dishes. 

"  Four  days  in  Peru,  Senor,"  we  replied.  "  We  came 
to  see  Lima  yesterday,  but  found  the  city  deserted.  Learn- 
ing that  the  better  part  of  Lima  had  escaped  to  Chorillos, 
we  are  pursuing  them  to  the  baths." 

Our  postillion  was  again  in  his  place,  and  the  party  bent 
with  a  smile  of  kindness,  as  we  wheeled  into  the  road 
again.  An  unexpected  incident,  hereafter  to  be  narrated, 
made  us  acquainted  with  these  interesting  strangers. 

We  reached  Chorillos  (having  passed  Miraflores  a  half 
hour  before  on  the  right)  just  in  time  for  breakfast,  which 
was  served  at  half-past  nine  o'clock.  The  rooms  were  all 
full,  but  the  landlady  showed  us  to  her  own  apartment, 
just  vacated  by  the  ladies  for  breakfast ;  and  we  found  a 
laving  in  cold  water  to  be  acceptable  after  our  morning 


306  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

ride.  A  vacant  seat  was  reserved  for  us  at  the  table,  at 
which  we  placed  ourselves  in  a  few  moments  more.  Some 
fifty  persons  were  at  the  table  as  we  took  our  seats. 

Most  of  the  families  who  resort  here  for  bathing  take 
up  their  residences  among  the  families  of  the  town  or  hire 
vacant  houses  for  the  season.  The  bank  edging  the 
plain  on  which  the  town,  a  miserable  collection  of  low 
houses,  is  built,  is  high  above  the  sea,  which  here  makes 
a  beautiful  indentation  constituting  the  bay.  The  sea  rolls 
in  with  heavy  breakers,  and  the  surf  tumbles  in  grandeur 
and  beauty.  The  surface  of  the  water  seen  from  the  high 
bluff  is  clear;  and  during  the  morning  we  saw  a  number 
of  porpoises  sporting  beneath  the  extended  sweep  of  the 
curve  lines  of  the  inrolling  swell,  which  here  beautifully 
bends  in  conformity  to  the  curvature  of  the  shore  of  the 
bay  in  its  roll  almost  the  whole  width  of  the  spacious 
basin.  These  fish  were  seen  several  feet  beneath  the 
surface,  as  distinctly  as  if  they  had  been  on  the  shore,  as 
the  rays  of  the  sun  sent  down  their  perpendicular  beams ; 
and  they  glided  along  now  in  parallel  lines,  occasionally 
changing  their  horizontal  and  elevating  their  noses  above 
the  water,  and  again  gliding  on  together,  curvetting  be- 
neath the  bosom  of  the  bay  in  imitation  of  the  magnificent 
surges  that  rolled  in  above  them.  A  hundred  eyes  from 
the  porticoes  overlooking  the  bay  were  on  those  graceful 
sporters  in  the  deep,  as  they  glided  at  their  pleasure  across 
and  around  the  bay. 

The  ladies  mostly  ride  down  the  steep  bluff  to  the 
beach,  where  the  bathing  houses  are  located,  and  again 
ascend  the  bluff' on  horseback.  The  bathing  establishment 
consists  of  slight  houses  formed  of  cane  and  mats,  where 
the  women  and  men  adjust  their  bathing  dresses  and  re- 
attire  themselves  after  sporting  in  the  surf.  Both  sexes 
bathe  promiscuously  together,  and  some  of  the  Limanian 
women  venture  far  out  beyond  the  breakers,  and  are  cra- 
dled in  handsome  style  and  on  a  grand  scale  upon  the  un- 
combing  surge  of  the  far-out  rollers.  To  reach  this  posi- 
tion, however,  it  is  essential  to  dive  beneath  the  heavy 
crests  of  the  same  surges,  which  break  in  foam  and  cas- 
cades and  overwhelming  and  whirling  currents,  as  they 
reach  nearer  in  to  the  beach. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  307 

We  met  here  several  Americans  from  Lima.  The  Com- 
modore, with  Mr.  Provost,  our  consul,  arrived  soon  after 
breakfast,  also  to  spend  the  day.  A  gentlemanly  young 
Englishman,  Mr.  R.,  offered  us  his  attentions,  with  whom 
we  afterwards  dined  in  Lima. 

After  the  morning  bath  we  dressed  for  dinner ;  and  I  was 
much  amused  by  the  animated  manner  of  a  Limanian  near 
me  at  the  table,  who  was  narrating  to  the  landlady  his  luck- 
less misfortunes  of  the  preceding  night,  and  the  villanous 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  deprived  of  his  cot,  which 
with  several  others  occupied  the  same  room.  The  gentle- 
man narrating  had  retired  rather  late,  having  calculated 
on  the  luxury  of  a  bed  in  this  crowded  place ;  but  on  his 
reaching  the  chamber  he  perceived,  to  his  surprise  and  dis- 
pleasure, that  his  cot  was  already  occupied.  Not  knowing 
but  there  had  been  some  mistake,  and  that  the  interloper 
was  blameless,  "  I  found  the  maid,"  said  the  gentleman, 
"  and  dqsired  that  she  should  wake  her  mistress,  and  ascer- 
tain if  she  had  allowed  any  one  to  occupy  my  cot.  But 
she  was  unwilling  to  wake  you  (the  narrator  was  address- 
ing the  landlady)  as  you  were  quite  unwell ;  I  therefore, 
as  the  only  resort,  took  a  blanket  upon  the  floor,  and  made 
the  best  of  the  remaining  part  of  the  night." 

In  the  morning,  he  continued,  he  awoke  and  found  the 
stranger  still  soundly  taking  his  rest.  This  he  could  not 
longer  endure,  in  view  of  his  own  comfortless  spent  night. 

"  Up,  Senor  !"  cried  the  Limanian  ;  "  up  !  the  sun  is  on 
the  bay,  and  men  who  have  deprived  others  of  their  rest 
should  be  moving." 

This  however  did  not  move  the  sleeper,  but  additionally 
irritated  the  gentleman  who  had  been  robbed  of  his  cot. 
He  therefore  gathered  all  the  shoes  adrift  in  the  room,  and 
began  by  tossing  one  into  the  neighborhood  of  the  sleeper's 
night-cap.  The  irritated  Limanian  had  exhausted  his 
quantity  of  shoes,  and  began  to  levy  on  the  straggling  canes 
in  the  room. 

"  I  say,  sleeper,  arise  !"  cried  the  Limanian  again,  as  he 
pitched  his  bundle  of  half  a  dozen  sticks  upon  the  cot,  "  an 
earthquake  could  have  but  little  effect  on  such  ears." 

But,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  the  provoked  Limanian, 
the  dozer  moved  not;  and  he  therefore  walked  up  to  the  cot 

53 


308  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

to  rouse  the  gentleman  by  rocking  him  with  his  own  hands, 
from  his  dreams  ;  when  he  found,  instead  of  the  presump- 
tuous stranger  whom  he  supposed  had  occupied  his  bed, 
that  some  one  had  so  arranged  the  pillows  as  to  exhibit 
the  appearance  of  a  person  in  bed. 

The  clever  landlady,  who  speaks  several  languages  with 
fluency,  enjoyed,  with  others,  the  joke,  as  she  laughed  quite 
interestingly  in  Spanish,  French,  and  English. 

Many  of  the  Lima  ladies  I  saw  at  Chorillos  were  inter- 
esting in  their  personal  appearance,  but  few  strikingly  pret- 
ty. We  were  pressed  to  attend  a  party  where  all  the  belles 
were  to  be  assembled,  in  the  evening,  but  our  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  to  return  to  Lima,  and,  with  the 
Commodore,  we  left  Chorillos  at  sunset. 

We  found  at  our  hotel,  on  our  reaching  the  city,  that 
several  of  the  officers  of  the  squadron  had  arrived  in  Lima 
from  Callao,  and  some  of  them  had  ventured  to  ride  out 
on  horseback.  To  the  considerable  inconvenience  of  one 
of  them,  his  horse,  after  leaving  town,  was  found  too  soon 
to  have  spent  his  vitality  of  muscle  and  sensitiveness  of 
nerve,  and,  like  a  ship  in  distress,  he  was  obliged  to  put 
back.  In  doing  this  he  re-entered  the  city,  and  his  sorry 
steed  took  his  own  time,  as  he  measured  his  slow  steps 
through  the  streets.  Whip  nor  spur  could  get  him  out  of 
a  walk.  What  object  so  suitable  for  the  water-spouts  from 
the  windows  and  balconies?  It  was  not  undiscovered,  and 
the  amiable  young  gentleman  (he  must  have  been  amiable, 
even  on  the  last  day  of  the  carnival,  to  have  endured  it) 
arrived  at  the  Fonda  as  wet  as  he  could  have  been,  had 
he  been  two  hours  overboard  at  sea. 

ASH-WEDNESDAY    IN    LIMA. 

The  early  bells,  on  the  morning  succeeding  our  visit 
to  Chorillos,  were  summoning,  as  usual,  the  Limanians  to 
confession  at  matins.  But  this  was  the  morning  of  ASH- 
WEDNESDAY,  and  the  first  day  of  Lent — a  season  when 
there  is  more  than  usual  attention  to  church  duties,  and  fre- 
quenting of  the  confessional.  I  had  risen  early  to  take  a 
walk  to  several  of  the  churches,  as  they  are  kept  open  two 
or  three  hours  in  the  morning — the  great  bell  of  the  cathe- 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          309 

dral,  by  its  peal  above  all  others,  generally  announcing  the 
elevation  of  the  Host  in  that  church  about  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  Already  the  city  had  put  on  a  new  appear- 
ance. The  streets  were  alive  with  hundreds  passing  to  and 
fro — the  shops  were  open — the  plaza  exhibiting  a  scene 
of  preparation  for  the  sales  and  the  business  of  the  day — 


& SSC 
LIMANIAN  LADY  IN  HER  SAYA  Y  MANTO. 


and  what  more  than  aught  else  attracts  the  stranger's  eye, 
the  saya  y  manto  was  abroad,  worn  by  the  female  wor- 
shippers, now  hurrying  to  their  early  prayers.  No  ^le 


310  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

longer  cast  an  anxious  glance  at  the  balcony,  or  watched 
the  suspicious  group  of  sporting  boys,  or  thought  of  the 
mischief-making  multitude  of  the  three  days  of  the  carnival. 
It  was  passed  ;  and  the  season  had  come  when  it  was  ex- 
pected by  the  church  that  all  its  members,  small  and  great, 
would  address  themselves  to  the  practice  of  the  graver 
duties  of  the  season  of  Lent. 

As  I  stood  a  few  moments  in  the  puertecalle,  or  large 
doorway,  that  leads  from  the  outer  court  of  the  hotel  to 
the  street,  to  mark  the  passers-by,  several  females  moved 
along  the  walk  in  their  sayas  y  mantos,  presenting  masked 
figures,  whom  no  one  could  know  while  they  kept  the 
manto  over  their  faces,  but  whose  graceful  step  all  would 
admire.  The  saya  y  manto  is  the  dress  in  which  all  fe- 
males frequent  the  churches  and  promenade  the  streets. 
It  is  a  dress  peculiar  to  the  city  of  Lima,  being  found,  it 
is  said,  in  no  other  part  of  the  world.  The  present  fash- 
ion in  the  cut  of  the  saya  differs  from  the  older  one,  giv- 
ing greater  freedom  to  the  step  of  the  wearer,  and  not  ma- 
terially differing  in  appearance  to  many  quilted  silk  win- 
ter-dresses worn  as  an  over-garment  by  our  own  country- 
women. The  olden  saya,  however,  sat  tighter  to  the  per- 
son, developing  more  strikingly  the  contour  of  the  figure.* 
Many  of  these  are  still  worn,  and  the  style  of  each  is  faith- 
fully exhibited  in  the  two  accompanying  prints.  But  it  is 
the  manto  which  effectually  serves  as  the  mask,  and  en- 
tirely disguises  the  wearer  if  she  chooses,  though  the  least 
imaginable  slip  of  the  finger  will  most  accidentally  discov- 
er the  features  of  the  face  to  a  friend.  The  saya  is  no 
more  nor  less  than  a  quilted  silk  petticoat,  of  any  color, 
which  ties  about  the  waist.  The  manto  is  simply  a  plain 
piece  of  black  silk,  hemmed  at  either  end.  A  cord  pass- 
ing through  the  hem  of  one  end  of  it,  and  around  the 
waist,  confines  it  in  a  gather  at  the  back,  over  which  the 
saya  is  sufficiently  elevated  to  conceal  the  cord.  The 
loose  end  of  the  black  silk  veil,  or  manto,  is  then  thrown 
up  the  back,  over  the  head,  and  the  two  corners  so  gath- 
ered by  the  hand  over  the  face  as  to  conceal  all  the  fea- 
tures but  one  eye,  which  contemplates  at  discretion  the 

*  See  the  second  cut,  further  on. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  311 

objects  that  may  secure  its  interest,  as  the  lady-masker 
passes  on  to  the  cathedral,  or  the  shop,  or  promenades,  on 
her  errand  of  pleasure,  or  business,  or  devotion. 

I  first  entered  the  cathedral,  the  finest  building  of  the 
city,  but  the  naves  of  this  spacious  church  were  still  va- 
cant as  the  eye  extended  through  the  long  aisles,  while  in 
a  lesser  building  immediately  at  its  side,  and  constituting 
a  part  of  the  same  pile,  numbers  were  kneeling.  I  paused 
but  a  moment,  as  I  saw  several  of  the  worshippers  advance 
to  the  altar  and  receive  upon  their  brow  the  mark  of  a  cross, 
drawn  by  the  finger  of  the  priest,  dipped  in  a  jet-black  fluid, 
as  the  emblem  characteristic  of  the  day  ;  and  which  I  af- 
terwards saw  on  the  foreheads  of  many  who  suffered  their 
mantos  to  lie  back  from  the  brow  as  they  were  returning 
from  their  prayers,  while  I  still  pursued  my  way  to  seve- 
ral others  of  the  church  edifices.  I  was  now  at  a  third 
church ;  and  though  I  had  not  then  familiarized  myself 
with  the  names  of  the  buildings,  I  believe  this  was  the 
Compania  de  Jesus.  There  was  more  shadow  than  usual  in 
the  mellowed  light  that  held  the  side  altars  of  this  church  in 
solemn  and  poetic  effect ;  and,  unlike  the  others,  the  priest 
stood  near  the  door  beside  a  table,  on  which  rested  the  sil- 
ver basin  containing  the  dark  fluid  resembling  a  mixture 
of  lampblack.  Here  the  priest  crossed  the  worshippers, 
as  they  knelt  in  the  light  of  the  door  before  him.  I  had 
entered,  passing  the  priest,  and  a  little  surprised  myself  to 
step  so  suddenly  upon  the  different  arrangement  met  with 
at  this  church,  and  as  I  was  advancing  to  ascend  the  side 
aisle,  I  surprised  a  beautiful  young  woman  turning  the  cor- 
ner of  the  buttress  of  a  heavy  arch  with  her  manto  thrown 
from  her  face,  with  the  light  from  the  door  falling  full  upon 
her  features,  as  she  seemed  on  her  way  to  depart.  There 
were  a  few  persons  kneeling  in  the  neighborhood,  at  the 
first  altar  near  the  door.  I  paused  as  she  passed,  and  stood 
uncovered,  with  an  irresistible  curiosity  to  see  if  this  beau- 
tiful Sefiorita  would  kneel  at  the  table  and  receive  the  cross 
upon  her  pure  brow.  She  evidently  herself  was  a  little 
surprised  at  first  by  recognising  a  stranger,  and  next  at 
the  memory  that  her  manto  discovered  fully  her  features  ; 
and  the  first  impulse  seemed  to  be  to  gather  her  manto 
over  her  face,  but  she  as  suddenly  smiled  and  recovered 

53* 


312  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

herself  as  she  stepped  with  a  foot  of  air,  inimitably  light, 
to  the  confessional  at  which  an  elderly  woman  was  sit- 
ting, and  whispered  a  few  words,  with  her  manto  still  dis- 
covering a  face  more  beautiful  than  I  had  before  met,  either 
in  Lima  or  at  Chorillos.  Her  hair  was  a  blond,  her  eye  a 


dark  blue,  and  her  complexion  that  of  a  lily.  She  knew 
that  she  was  beautiful.  No  woman  with  such  a  face  and 
with  such  a  smile  could  be  ignorant  of  such  possessions. 
She  paused  but  a  moment — already  a  piece  of  mingled 
surprise  and  a  slight  affectation — when  she  stepped  from 
the  confessional  towards  the  door.  That  step  was  purely 
Limanian,  though  more  airy  than  others,  as  her  form  was 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND   THE    WORLD.  313 

more  sylph-like  than  most  of  her  sisters.  She  paused — 
turned  with  the  precision  and  the  ease  of  a  double  step  in 
the  waltz,  and  knelt  with  her  face  towards  myself.  A 
sunbeam  fell  upon  her  brow  so  purely  white — her  eyes 
were  turned  gently  upward — the  smile  of  complacency 
had  not  yet  left  her  slightly  curled  lip — and  the  man  of 
God  put  the  emblem  of  the  cross  upon  a  brow,  than  which 
nothing  could  be  more  fair,  blending  in  with  features,  than 
which  nothing  could  be  more  innocent  and  sweet,  if  aught 
could  ever  be  more  beautifully  classic  than  was  there. 
She  rose,  gathered  the  manto  with  a  beautiful  hand  over 
her  face,  turned  towards  the  door,  and  was  gone. 

I  stepped  forward  a  few  paces  and  leaned,  in  the 
shadow,  against  the  heavy  base  of  the  arch,  and  for  a 
moment  listened  to  another  priest  who  was  repeating  the 
mass  at  the  only  lighted  altar,  by  the  door.  Another 
moment,  and  I  left  this  for  another  church  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, where  I  found  a  large  number  collected  before 
different  side  altars  with  officiating  priests  at  each,  while 
a  body  of  clerigos  and  canonigos  were  celebrating  high 
mass  in  the  central  nave  of  the  church.  There  were  ap- 
parently forty  or  fifty  of  these  tonsured  personages  whose 
full  voices  filled  the  surrounding  arches  of  the  spacious 
house.  But  every  now  and  then  the  full-toned  organ 
would  join  in  the  chant,  or  swell  alone  in  strains  of  wor- 
ship. I  moved  up  the  central  nave  near  the  balustrade 
of  the  chancel  at  the  further  end,  on  the  right  of  which  a 
temporary  figure  of  the  Saviour  was  elevated  upon  a 
square  altar,  representing  him  in  sadness  and  sorrow. 
Before  his  bent  figure  a  carpet  had  been  spread  of  a  few 
feet  square,  where  the  worshippers  had  knelt  singly  or  in 
groups.  I  occupied  a  seat  at  this  position  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  service ;  at  the  close  of  which  the  priests 
advanced  in  double  file  to  the  chancel  from  the  further 
end  of  the  church.  They  knelt  according  to  their  stand- 
ing in  precedence  of  office,  and  were  crossed,  as  I  had 
seen  others,  with  a  black  cross.  But  the  cross,  instead  of 
being  placed  upon  their  brow,  was  traced  upon  the  crown 
of  their  head,  or  the  small  circular  and  bare  spot  which 
all  Catholic  priests  abroad  have  shaven  on  the  top  of  the 
head,  called  the  tonsure.  When  the  priests  had  received 


314          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  emblem,  the  crowd  promiscuously  advanced  to  the 
chancel,  and  the  crossing  continued  until  the  dark  sign 
had  been  imprinted  on  many  brows.  I  advanced  to  one 
side  of  the  chancel  and  witnessed  the  scene,  as  the  women 
threw  back  their  mantos — now  discovering  the  face  of  a 
matron,  who  received  the  emblem  with  gravity — now  a 
younger  and  smiling  countenance  and  greater  gentility  of 
mien  and  person — and  now  a  brunette — a  bronze  or  black 
— the  last  apparently  constituting  the  vast  majority,  while 
many  crowded  here,  and  not  a  few  smiled  there  as  they 
were  huddling  together  around  the  chancel,  exhibiting  a 
peculiar  scene  as  four  or  five  of  the  priests  continued  their 
services  in  drawing  the  dark  emblem  upon  the  advancing 
and  receding  mass.  It  seemed  rather  a  holiday  scene 
than  one  of  particular  solemnity  connected  with  a  day  of 
mourning.  Some  children  also  received  the  cross,  but 
scarcely  a  male  adult  besides  the  priests  was  there.  I 
know  not  the  intention  of  the  ceremony,  but  suppose  it 
emblematic  of  the  "  ashes  and  sackcloth"  of  other  times  ; 
and  as  I  marked  the  multitude  here,  and  the  passers-by  in 
the  streets  as  I  returned  to  the  hotel,  I  was  forcibly  car- 
ried back  to  the  Hindoo,  the  Bramin,  the  Banyan,  and  the 
Gentoo,  who  draw  their  various  marks  of  various  colors 
upon  the  brow,  when  they  pay  their  visits  to  the  temples. 

CATHEDRAL    VAULT,    AND    BONES    OF    PIZARRO. 

But  I  must  abruptly  close  the  account  of  my  visit  to 
Lima,  where  so  many  scenes  of  other  days  have  occurred ; 
and  about  which,  associations  of  the  deepest  interest  cluster; 
and  where  my  own  wanderings  have  been  through  the 
palace  of  Pizarro — through  the  hundred  and  more  monas- 
teries and  churches  and  nunneries,  all  buildings  of  interest 
for  the  space  they  cover,  and  many  for  the  style  of  their 
architecture,  though  now  crumbling  in  their  solitude  and 
dust ;  and  the  plaza — the  alameda — the  arena  for  the  bull- 
fights— the  ruins  of  the  inquisition — the  views  from  the 
high  steeples  of  St.  Domingo  and  the  Franciscan  Convent 
and  garden  walks — and  some  pleasant  acquaintances 
formed — and  the  cathedral — all,  here,  must  be  omitted, 
save  a  single  scene  in  the  spacious  buildings  of  the  last 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  315 

named  pile,  whose  corner-stone  was  placed  by  Pizarro, 
the  founder  of  the  empire  and  the  conqueror  of  Peru.  I 
had  several  times  entered  this  noble  building,  the  fit  mau- 
soleum of  its  founder,  but  now  sought  it  for  the  purpose 
of  entering  the  vault  where  the  bones  of  Pizarro  repose, 
in  their  slumber  of  years.  I  found  the  doors  of  the 
cathedral  closed,  but  soon  a  person  whom  I  had  not  before 
seen  presented  himself,  who  had  been  directed  to  attend 
me,  should  I  finally  make  my  appearance.  I  was  later 
than  the  hour  of  my  appointment  with  one  of  the  priests, 
owing  to  my  delay  at  the  palace.  We  advanced  to  the 
great  altar,  from  which  my  attendant  took  a  key.  The 
doors  of  the  immense  building  were  closed.  The  sombre 
of  mellow  light  threw  its  solemn  effect  over  the  more 
than  twenty  altars  that  lined  the  sides  of  the  spacious 
building,  rendered  still  more  shaded  by  the  heavy  bars  of 
the  doors  that  shut  in  these  altars,  forming  for  each  a  side 
chapel  with  a  space  of  many  feet  square.  And  in  this 
solemn  house,  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  deep  and  a 
hundred  and  eighty-six  feet  in  width,  there  stood,  in  their 
shaded  recesses  and  sacred  niches,  upon  their  altars,  a 
thousand  images  of  saints  of  every  age,  the  apostles,  che- 
rubs, angels,  the  Saviour,  the  holy  family  and  canonized 
santas — some  arrayed  in  gaudy  tinsel,  some  in  sorrow 
and  sackcloth — some  exhibiting  the  Saviour  crowned  with 
thorns  and  pierced  by  spear ;  but  here  they  were,  at  this 
moment,  in  their  silence  and  shade  and  solemnity.  The 
lightest  step  upon  the  tiled  pavement  could  be  heard 
throughout  the  massive  pile,  and  a  whisper  would  find  its 
way  in  distinctness  to  the  furthest  corner  of  the  walls  and 
the  highest  curve  of  the  ceiling.  We  walked  down  from 
the  great  altar,  along  the  middle  nave  of  the  building, 
which  is  elevated  several  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  side 
aisles,  and  beneath  which  is  the  vault  said  to  contain,  with 
others  of  the  great  in  church  and  state  of  olden  times,  the 
relics  of  Pizarro. 

We  descended  from  the  spacious  platform  or  central 
terrace,  where  the  high  mass  is  chanted  ;  and  as  we  came 
upon  the  floor  of  the  side  nave,  my  guide  placed  his  heavy 
key  in  the  door  that  opened  beneath  the  platform  which 
we  had  left.  The  iron  hinges  grated  as  the  door  opened 


316  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

inward  to  the  vault ;  and  the  rays  of  a  lighted  taper,  that 
the  guide  bore  in  his  hand,  struggled  to  overcome  the 
thick  darkness  that  here  seemed  to  have  reigned  so  long, 
that  the  shades  had  condensed  to  a  materiality  of  blackness 
that  could  be  felt,  as  we  entered  among  them.  We  de- 
scended slowly  several  steps  that  brought  us  to  the  ground 
floor  of  a  room,  on  the  left  side  of  which  were  closed 
vaults,  comparatively  of  modern  construction,  sealed  with 
mortar ;  and  the  rubbish  of  useless  lumber,  such  as  broken 
column  and  capital  of  olden  altars,  and  their  various  orna- 
ments and  accompaniments,  filled  the  space  with  their 
heaps.  We  turned  to  the  right  through  a  low  and  short 
passage  which  ended  in  an  inner  room,  lined  with  two  tiers 
of  boxes,  three  high,  on  three  sides.  The  outer  edges  of 
some  of  them  had  fallen  in,  discovering  their  enclosed 
skeletons  crumbling  to  slow  but  final  decay.  Having 
examined  several  on  the  right,  the  guide  directed  me  to 
pass  to  the  opposite  side,  pointing  out  to  me  several  loose 
boards  in  the  centre  of  the  floor,  which  he  cautioned  me 
to  avoid.  I  did  not  inquire  the  secret  of  the  dark  well 
they  covered,  as  I  well  knew  that  it  was  the  charnel 
house  for  the  bones  of  hundreds,  for  whose  souls  the 
masses — how  many  masses  ! — have  been  offered  up  from 
the  altars  that  were  above  us,  that  their  spirits  might 
ascend  from  purgatory  to  a  happier  region.  The  guide  now 
followed  me,  and  holding  low  down  his  taper  to  a  box  occu- 
pying the  further  side  of  the  wall,  he  added,  "Este,  Sefior,es 
el  cuerpo  de  Pizarro." — "  This,  sir,  is  the  body  of  Pizarro." 
The  edge  of  the  box  was  broken,  and  the  top  gone, 
showing  the  dusty  and  crumbling  skeleton,  said  to  be  the 
remaining  bones  of  the  conqueror  of  Peru.  The  flesh  had 
gone.  The  skull  was  naked,  showing  that  it  was  once 
the  inhabited  of  a  spirit  of  many  years  tarry  upon  earth,  as 
only  a  few  teeth  remained  in  the  jaw,  while  the  alveola 
process,  save  in  two  or  three  spots,  had  been  absorbed. 
His  hands  lay  crossed  upon  his  breast  exhibiting  the 
skeleton  of  a  remarkably  small  hand — and  his  feet  cor- 
responding in  size.  Quicklime,  that  covered  parts  of  the 
body,  had  hardened  into  white  lumps,  and  was  dry. 
Such  is  the  arid  property  of  the  atmosphere  here,  that  all 
fluids  are  soon  evaporated,  and  no  moisture  remains  in  the 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  317 

deepest  cells.  And  to  this  circumstance  is  attributed  the 
long  preservation  of  the  relics  of  the  departed.  For  now, 
it  is  three  centuries,  wanting  less  than  a  year,  since 
Pizarro  fell.  Parts  of  a  dingy  linen  shroud  still  wrapped 
portions  of  the  relics,  and  a  knotted  button  clasped  a 
worked  thread-lace  wristband  around  the  ulna  bone  of  the 
skeleton.  It  was  a  dark  place,  that  depository  of  the 
olden  dead ;  and  the  unlabelled  boxes  bore  the  dust  of 
centuries  upon  their  crumbling  slabs.  I  now  held  in  my 
hand  a  small  relic  from  the  shroud  of  Pizarro,  which  lay 
loose  in  the  skeleton  box,  and  was  returning  over  the 
planks  that  covered  the  well  in  the  centre  of  the  low  and 
narrow  room.  The  guide  following  my  steps,  trod  upon 
a  rolling  block,  which  canted  him  against  the  wall.  The 
taper  affixed  to  the  end  of  a  wooden  handle  which  he 
carried  in  his  hand,  brushed  against  the  buttress  that  sup- 
ports the  terrace  of  the  altar  above,  and  was  extinguished, 
and  we  were  left  in  darkness.  Not  a  ray  from  a  crevice 
or  crack  penetrated  the  shades  of  the  vault ;  but  we  were 
already  in  the  narrow  passage  that  formed  the  only  outlet 
into  the  first  room  of  the  lumbered  vault.  My  guide  was 
too  familiar  with  the  dead  to  become  alarmed  at  our  situation, 
and  we  carefully  and  safely  groped  our  way  to  the  door. 
We  passed  from  the  silent  vault,  by  the  flight  of  six  or 
seven  steps,  to  the  side  nave  of  the  church.  The  guide 
closed  again  the  grating  door,  and  turned  the  key  upon 
that  dark  and  silent  repository  of  the  dead ! 

NIGHT-WALK    TO    THE    RIMAC. 

In  the  evening  I  was  again  passing  through  the  plaza, 
having  proposed  a  walk  with  a  friend  over  the  bridge, 
spanning  the  Rimac.  We  had  reached  the  plaza,  the 
centre  of  interest,  whatever  may  be  going  on  by  day  or 
by  night  intended  to  attract  public  attention,  when  a  pro- 
cession of  a  long  train  of  lanterns  was  seen  advancing 
from  the  direction  of  the  cathedral  towards  us,  headed 
by  a  bareheaded  priest  in  his  canonicals,  while  the  plain- 
tive voices  of  three  females  broke  on  the  still  air  in  the 
strains  of  a  most  affecting  dirge.  A  crowd  followed  with 
waxen  tapers  and  painted  lanterns,  all  uncovered ;  and 


318          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

as  they  advanced,  the  gazers-on  fell  upon  their  knees,  as 
the  melancholy  procession  in  slow  and  solemn  step  went 
on  their  course.  It  was  a  striking  scene.  The  night  was 
dark.  Not  a  whisper  was  heard  around  the  plaza  as  the 
procession  moved  on,  and  every  head  was  bare,  while 
many  crossed  themselves,  and  others  told  their  beads  as 
they  knelt  on  the  pavement.  It  was  the  Host,  moving  to 
the  house  of  the  Infirmo.  The  procession  moved  on,  the 
plaintive  dirge  dying  away  in  the  distance,  as  the  lanterns 
became  more  and  more  dim  ;  and  the  hushed  crowd,  that 
had  paused  on  their  steps  till  the  procession  had  passed, 
now  moved  again  upon  their  separate  ways. 

We  walked  on  to  the  bridge  and  listened  to  the  mur- 
mur of  the  waters,  that,  at  this  season,  roar  in  their  rapid 
course  beneath  the  arches  of  this  fine  structure.  We 
thought  that  we  could  fancy  the  scene  before  us,  when 
Holla,  with  the  rescued  child  of  Alonzo  and  his  once  affi- 
anced Cora,  rushed  across  the  wooden  bridge,  with  Pi- 
zarro's  emissaries  full  in  pursuit.  And  there,  in  the  dim 
shade,  were  the  rocks  by  which  the  retreating  hero  passed 
and  evaded  his  pursuers,  though  a  shot  had  pierced  his 
noble  heart.  My  friend  seemed  in  like  musing  mood  with 
myself,  as  we  together  leaned  over  the  side  parapet  of  the 
bridge,  practically  illustrating  the  sentiment  of  the  dra- 
matist, that 

"  They  only  babble  who  practise  not  reflection." 
But  my  friend  soon  discovered  the  drift  of  his  thoughts, 
by  asking  if  I  believed  Elvira,  in  Pizarro,  to  have  been  a 
real  character. 

"  I  believe,  at  least,  the  truth  of  her  language"  was  the 
reply.  "  To  laugh  or  weep  without  a  reason,  is  one  of 
the  few  privileges  poor  women  have ;"  which  recalls  to 
my  mind  an  expression  of  a  lady  more  interesting  than 
Elvira  was,  when  asked  for  the  reason  of  a  sentiment 
she  had  advanced.  "  Ladies,"  she  said,  are  not  required 
to  give  their  reasons," — all  a  very  convenient  response. 

My  friend,  I  concluded,  had  not  followed  me  quite  to 
the  end  of  my  answer,  exhibiting  my  preferences  in  cha- 
racters, as  he  now  soliloquized,  in  the  language  of  Elvira, 
"  O  men  !  men  !  ungrateful  and  perverse, 
O  women,  still  affectionate,  though  wronged." 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          319 

When  we  had  reached  the  lower  side  of  the  plaza,  on 
our  return,  the  procession  which  had  been  to  bear  the 
Host  to  the  house  of  the  sick  woman,  said  to  be  at  the 
point  of  death,  was  just  entering  the  square  again.  They 
advanced  along  the  cathedral,  to  the  smaller  chapel  at  its 
side,  as  the  plaintive  dirge  or  chanted  mass  for  the  Infirmo 
came  again  to  us  over  the  plaza,  in  its  soft  and  affecting 
wail.  The  lights  streamed  in  the  distance  through  the 
painted  lanterns  or  from  tapers  that  were  borne  over  the 
heads  of  the  female  singers,  the  cross,  and  the  priest. 
We  passed  into  the  chapel  while  the  last  strain  from  the 
female  voices  was  ending ;  and  the  priest  added  his  Do- 
minus  Vobiscum  et  finem.  The  lights  were  extinguished, 
and  the  crowd  dispersed. 

LAST    NIGHT    IN    LIMA. 

I  sat  until  a  late  hour,  this  night,  in  the  balcony  that 
jutted  slightly  out  from  the  windows  of  my  room  over 
the  side-walk  of  the  street.  The  city  was  wrapped  in 
silence ;  and  the  tapers  that  but  dimly  lighted  the  city  in 
the  early  part  of  the  night  had  gone  out.  The  moisture 
of  the  night-fall  rendered  more  distinct  the  step  of  the 
watchman,  the  shrill  sound  of  whose  thrice-blowed  whis- 
tle, and  salutation  to  the  Virgin,  recurred  at  every  hour. 
Nowhere  have  I  heard  the  watch-cry  of  the  hour  so 
sweetly  sung  as  here,  succeeding  the  shrill  pipe,  which 
comes  to  the  ear,  with  its  pauses,  as  a  prelude  to  the  sono- 
rous and  clear  voice,  waking  after  it,  in  the  words  of 

"  Ave  Maria  Sanctissima — las  doce  handado, 
Viva  Peru — y  sereno." 

Hail  Maria,  virgin  most  pure, 

By  the  night-watch  twelve  is  the  hour ; 

Long  live  Peru,  home  of  the  free, 

The  night  is  serene,  peace  be  with  thee. 

To  our  fathers  of  the  revolution,  the  cry  of  the  old 
watchman  at  Philadelphia  on  one  occasion,  as  he  passed 
upon  his  midnight  round,  may  have  been  yet  more  sweet, 
if  not  equally  sonorous.  The  town  clock  struck  twelve; 
and  the  old  watchman  regained  his  youth  as  his  cry  re- 
peated the  time,  and  the  welcome  news, 

"  Twelve  o'clock— all's  well — and  Cornwallis  is  taken." 


320  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

As  we  entered  Callao,  on  our  return  from  Lima,  we 
passed  our  amiable  First  Lieutenant  and  two  or  three 
other  officers,  who  were  taking  a  stroll  on  shore.  They 
soon  came  up  to  the  neighborhood  of  our  landing,  and 
Lieutenant  P.  introduced  to  me  the  Rev.  Mr.  Small,  chap- 
lain of  H.  B.  M.  ship  President,  who  had  left  his  card  on 
board  the  Columbia  during  my  absence  to  Lima.  He 
waived  his  invitation  to  me  to  dine  with  him  on  board  the 
President  the  succeeding  day,  and  did  me  the  pleasure  of 
taking  dinner  with  myself  and  the  ward-room  mess,  on 
board  the  Columbia. 

"  But  you  have  not  seen  the  first  beauty  of  Lima,  Mr. 
T.,"  said  an  officer  very  partial  in  his  estimate  of  Miss 
Vivero,  as  the  interest  of  my  visit  at  the  capital  was  dis- 
cussed at  the  mess-table,  in  the  morning.  "  I  have  found 
an  old  acquaintance  on  shore,  and  you  must  see  her." 

I  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  fine  taste  of  my  friend,  and 
consented  to  make  my  compliments  to  the  family.  Mrs. 
Vivero  received  us  with  the  ease  of  one  of  the  old  Spanish 
ladies  of  the  country ;  and  in  a  few  moments  more,  her 
interesting  daughter,  la  Senorita  Gertrudes,  made  her  ap- 
pearance, with  a  step  that  recalled  to  me  the  vision  of  the 
Lady  of  the  Lake,  in  whose  path 

"Even  the  light  hair-bell  raised  its  head 
Elastic  from  her  airy  tread  ;" 

and  yet,  with  a  becoming  reserve  that  greatly  added  to 
her  lady-like  manner.  Her  dark  eye  floated  in  its  clear- 
ness and  light,  correspondent  in  its  shade  with  the  tresses 
of  a  suit  of  fine  hair,  which  since  the  morning  bath  had 
been  gathered,  a  Vabandon,  in  rolls  upon  the  head.  The 
perfect  mouth,  and  fine  teeth,  and  brow  so  purely  fair  and 
womanly,  constituted,  in  their  blended  features,  a  face 
that  delayed  not  to  interest,  and  left  its  image  distinctly 
traced  in  the  memory.  She  was  in  her  morning  dress 
and  silk  slippers,  so  purely  Limanian  ;  and  few  beautiful 
women  lose  interest  to  their  charms  in  their  dishabille  of 
the  morning,  when  adjusted  with  a  negligent  air  of  neat- 
ness and  taste.  La  Senorita  Gertrudes  is  an  interesting 
specimen  of  a  Limanian  beauty.  She  preferred  Choril- 
los,  she  said,  to  Callao  as  a  bathing-place,  to  which  I  as- 
sented, as  all  would  that  love  the  beauty  of  the  inrolling 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  321 

surf  in  its  finest  magnificence,  and  the  grander  view  there, 
than  at  Callao,  of  the  majestic  sea.  And  the  North 
American  cities,  she  thought,  she  would  like  to  visit,  but 
from  the  descriptions  she  had  received,  would  prefer  Phi- 
ladelphia to  New- York  ;  to  which  I  demurred,  presuming 
that  some  interested  Philadelphian  had  prepossessed  the 
young  lady  by  the  colorings  of  partiality  he  had  used,  in 
his  graphic  delineations  of  these  rival  emporiums.  I  left 
this  family,  with  regret  that  our  immediate  sailing  would 
prevent  me  from  renewing  my  calls  upon  them,  agreeably 
to  the  very  polite  invitation  of  Mrs.  Vivero,  as  we  made 
them  our  adieus. 

The  religious  services  of  the  succeeding  day  were  over. 
The  breeze  came  in,  and  our  two  ships  got  under  way 
together ;  and  under  a  press  of  canvass  stood  out  to  sea. 
More  than  ever  before,  do  we  now  feel,  that  we  are  on 
our  way  to  blessed  home. 


SECTION    XII. 

DOUBLING    CAPE    HORN. RIO    DE    JANEIRO. HOME. 

The  two  ships  part  company.  Gale  off  Cape  Horn.  Piece  of  a  wreck. 
Arrival  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  point  of  our  last  departure  from  the  West 
for  the  Eastern  world.  Rest.  Story  of  the  second  visit  to  Rio  delayed. 
L  aving  the  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Difficulty  in  regaining  the  impres- 
sion that  we  are  nearing  home,  after  a  long  voyage  abroad.  Off  Cape 
Hatteras.  Reflections.  Things  seen  in  the  cruise.  Anticipated  wel- 
come. Lines — The  Traveller's  return  to  his  own  dear  Home. 

THE  Columbia  parted  company  with  her  consort,  the 
John  Adams,  when  but  two  or  three  days  out  of  Callao, 
and  the  two  ships  stood  separately  on  their  track,  to 
double  Cape  Horn. 

The  Cape  is  ever  regarded  as  a  disagreeable  necessity 
to  be  encountered,  in  making  the  passage  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific ;  and  the  return,  though  less  dreaded,  is 
still  formidable  in  the  apprehensions  of  seamen.  For  our- 
selves, after  a  voyage  of  near  two  years  in  the  tropics,  we 


322          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

anticipated  some  suffering  from  cold;  with  some  severe 
weather,  though  the  season  of  the  year  was  favorable  for 
doubling  a  point,  which  had  been  more  appropriately  call- 
ed by  the  early  appellative  of  the  sister  promontory  of  the 
Eastern  hemisphere,  the  "  Cape  of  all  Terrors." 

The  winds  continued  to  freshen  as  we  made  our  south- 
ing, until  a  gale  and  snow-storm  and  hail  greeted  us  as 
boon  companions,  on  our  course.  But  our  ship,  under 
close-reefed  topsail  and  reefed  foresail  drove  before  it,  and 
with  the  exception  of  laying  to  for  some  five  hours,  con- 
tinued on  our  course,  with  a  traverse  of  ten  or  eleven 
knots  the  hour.  On  the  seventh  of  April,  we  reached  our 
southernmost  point — the  winds  blowing,  at  times  the  pre- 
ceding night,  a  hurricane,  and  on  one  occasion  during  the 
mid-  watch  a  sea  was  shipped,  in  which  the  men,  for  a 
moment,  were  swimming  as  if  overboard ;  and  though  the 
officer  of  the  deck  thought  the  quarter-boats,  for  the  in- 
stant, must  have  gone,  no  injury  was  sustained.  The  gale 
continued  during  the  day,  the  sea  running  higher  than  we 
had  before  seen  it,  and  the  snow  drifting  in  its  dark 
sheets,  as  seen  at  sea,  before  the  driving  tempest.  The 
hour  had  reached  near  the  meridian,  and  a  sight  of  the 
sun  was  desirable  in  view  of  his  absence  for  the  few  pre- 
ceding days  ;  and  it  was  a  fortunate,  as  it  was  a  beautiful 
coincidence  of  the  hour,  that  precisely  at  twelve  o'clock, 
the  clouds,  as  if  conscious  of  our  necessities,  and  in  kind- 
ness for  our  solicitudes,  gathered  up  their  dark  folds.  The 
sun,  for  one  moment,  came  forth.  The  next,  he  was  again 
shut  in,  and  the  clouds,  in  their  wild  drift  again  through 
the  heavens,  were  on  their  dark  and  fleet  wing.  We  see 
how  utterly  impossible  it  would  be  to  make  headway 
against  such  a  sea  as  was  this  day  prevailing,  with  the 
winds  ahead.  But  our  lively  bark  drives  on  before  it, 
buoyant  in  her  own  element  on  the  surge,  as  is  the  alba- 
tros  on  his  wing  as  he  strikes  with  his  pinion  his  own  na- 
tive air.  How  terrible  would  be  a  wreck  in  these  tumul- 
tuous waters,  amid  the  tempest  and  the  cold  and  the  wild 
rage  of  the  ocean  !  No  hope  could  long  be  cherished. 
We  thought  of  the  schooner,  belonging  to  the  exploring 
expedition,  which  we  supposed  must  have  been  swamped 
somewhere  near  our  present  position.  And  in  the  height 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  323 

of  the  storm  of  this  day  a  piece  of  a  wreck  drove  by  us. 
The  first  view  gave  the  appearance  of  three  persons,  upon 
a  few  spars.  The  First  Lieutenant  sprang  into  the  rig- 
ging, but  the  drift,  in  a  moment  more,  was  out  of  sight, 
though  a  second  glance  at  it  had  been  sufficient  to  assure 
us  that  no  living  person  was  upon  it. 

The  succeeding  day  we  were  standing  on  our  course 
with  studdingsails  set,  and  our  passage  continued  to  be 
favorable.  In  forty-six  days  from  the  time  of  our  weigh- 
ing anchor  in  Callao  Roads,  we  were  moored,  once  more, 
in  the  beautiful  and  romantic  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
We  passed  through  the  narrow  entrance  of  the  bay,  as  a 
figure  upon  the  ramparts  of  the  fortress  hailed  us  through 
his  trumpet;  and  having  learned  the  port  we  last  left  and 
the  number  of  days  out,  he  waved  his  trumpet,  adding, 
"  Thank  you,  sir ;  good  luck  to  you." 

RE-ANCHORED    IN    THE    HARBOR    OF    RIO. 

And  now  we  felt,  and  with  a  strangely  mingling  emo- 
tion, that  we  could  say,  we  had  made  the  circuit  of  the 
globe.  From  this  point  we  weighed  our  anchors  nearly 
two  years  since,  for  our  long  traverse  around  the  world. 
We  have  accomplished  it ;  and  our  noble  ship,  that  has 
proved  us  kindly  and  true,  rests  again  in  the  waters  of  this 
sleeping  and  lovely  bay,  after  having  cut  with  her  keel, 
almost  every  sea  and  ocean  of  the  globe.  And  there  has 
been  much  which  we  have  marked,  thought,  felt,  hoped, 
feared,  and  realized,  which,  at  this  hour,  calls  for  a  re- 
membrance of  the  Power  which  has  presided  over  us — 
directed  the  winds — stilled  the  tempest — arrested  disease 
— and  preserved  the  lives  of  those,  who  again  re-greet  the 
point  from  which  we  took  our  last  departure  from  the 
western  hemisphere,  for  the  eastern  world.  And  it  is 
grateful  to  the  eye,  and  a  cordial  to  the  heart,  again  to 
look  upon  these  well-known  views,  the  picturesque  bay 
and  surrounding  mountains,  organ  peaks,  and  abrupt  pre- 
cipices, and  mellowing  of  the  granite  mountains  by  the 
evergreen  of  the  luxurious  tropics.  And  Rio  de  Janeiro 
itself,  with  its  white  walls  and  tiled  roofs  of  houses,  occu- 
pying the  hills  and  plains  and  ravines  and  the  beach,  di- 

54* 


324  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

minutive  in  their  distant  proportions  in  contrast  with  the 
giant  elevations  of  nature  around  them,  yet  presents  a 
beautiful  whole,  which  has  retained  its  outline  of  loveli- 
ness in  our  vision  the  wide  world  around.  And  here  we 
rest,  for  a  moment  at  least.  The  English  and  French 
men-of-war  are  numerous  in  the  harbor.  And  what  is 
worth  a  thousand  men-of-war,  letters  from  those  we  love 
have  been  awaiting  us,  which  we  devour  with  weeping 
eyes  and  heaving  hearts. 

We  delayed  a  number  of  days  at  Rio,  and  the  time 
spent  there  was  agreeably  occupied — many  objects  of  in- 
terest presenting  themselves — new  acquaintances  formed 
— rides  and  walks  taken — conversations  enjoyed — and 
reflections  made;  but  all  these  and  the  story  of  our  second 
call  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  must  be  elsewhere  told,  if  told  at  all. 

Thursday  morning,  May  the  6th,  was  the  time  fixed  for 
our  sailing.  I  had  taken  leave  of  my  friends.  The  land 
breeze  came  early  over  the  bay,  and  all  hands,  to  get  under 
way,  were  in  their  stations  at  daybreak.  The  ship  was 
cast  from  her  moorings,  and  fell  off  gracefully  from  our 
nearest  neighbor,  H.  B.  M.  ship  Stag,  and  with  the  John 
Adams  already  following  our  motions,  we  glided  towards 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  passing  the  two  U.  S.  sloops,  the 
Falmouth  and  the  Decatur,  as  yet  but  just  awake  as  we 
moved  near  them.  The  breeze  was  favorable  ;  but  just 
before  we  had  entered  the  narrow  pass  of  the  harbor  the 
fog  fell  heavily  upon  our  decks,  and  the  two  ships,  now 
abeam,  were  no  longer  seen  by  each  other.  But  the  boats 
were  on  each  side  of  us,  and  a  hail  from  one  of  them  soon 
cried,  "The  fort  is  directly  ahead,  sir."  "Ay,  ay,"  was  the 
response,  and  "  Port  the  helm,"  was  an  accompanying 
order,  which,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  bearings,  carried  the 
frigate  safely  through  the  narrow  passage.  The  fog  lift 
ed,  and  the  John  Adams  was  seen  at  the  windward  of  us. 
having,  unperceived,  crossed  our  bows ;  and,  together, 
once  more  we  are  at  sea,  on  the  sixth  morning  of  May,  it 
being  the  anniversary  morning  of  our  leaving  the  United 
States,  for  our  cruise  of  the  world,  two  years  ago. 

Our  track  was  now  to  be  a  direct  one  for  the  homes 
which  we  had  left  so  many  months  before,  and  after 
having  accomplished  so  long  a  traverse  around  the  world. 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  325 

It  seemed,  however,  a  difficulty  to  realize  the  fact  that 
our  next  anchorage-ground  would  be  within  the  waters 
of  the  United  States — so  long  and  so  often  had  we  left 
foreign  ports  for  still  other  foreign  ports.  But  the  fre- 
quent congratulations  that  were  passing — the  daily  reckon- 
ing up  of  the  distance  from  the  port  we  anticipated  to 
make — and  the  frequent  sound  of  "Home,  sweet,  sweet 
home,"  on  the  band,  and  flute,  and  in  vocal  solo  from  ward- 
room, state-room,  and  steerage,  began  to  make  their  im- 
pression, until  incredulity  itself  was  forced  to  yield  to  the 
conviction,  that  it  was  even  so — our  next  port  would  be 
Boston  or  New- York — Boston,  if  winds  favored — New- 
York,  if  they  opposed. 


THE    REVIEW. 


fknonoft 

And  now,  while  I  am  writing  this  page,  on  the  ninth 
of  June,  we  are  off  Cape  Hatteras,  some  hundred  miles 
east  of  it.  The  passage  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  been 
favorable  thus  far,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  ten  days 
out ;  and  it  has  been  a  time  for  leisurely  reviewing  some  of 
the  incidents  of  the  cruise.  Many  of  them  have  been 
pleasant.  Great  varieties  of  the  human  species  have  been 
seen.  Greater  variety  of  incident,  perhaps,  has  also  been 
attendant  on  the  cruise,  than  is  usual  for  a  peace-ship  to 
witness.  The  olden  East  has  been  seen — the  thousand 
casts  that  go  to  make  up  the  medley  mass  of  the  brown, 
and  bronzed,  and  ebony  faces  of  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Hin- 
doostan,  the  lighter-complexioned  millions  of  the  Tartars 
and  the  Chinese,  and  the  yellow  and  copper- featured  isl- 
anders of  the  north  and  southern  oceans.  The  beautiful 
lands  of  the  tropics  delight,  for  a  season  at  least,  the  gaze 
of  the  voyager,  as  they  spread  out  to  his  view  the  luxuri- 
ousness  of  their  foliage,  and  delight  his  taste  with  the  vari- 
eties and  deliciousness  of  their  fruits.  The  adventurous 
Europeans  and  Americans  abroad,  have  also  been  seen. 
The  Englishman,  in  his  wide  rule,  ambition,  wealth  and 
taste,  beautifying  whatever  his  nation  touches,  and  possess- 
ing whatever  his  nation  can  frame  apology  for  securing 
and  holding.  The  Portuguese,  those  first  voyagers  on  the 
seas,  have  left  their  traces  everywhere,  but  all  now  with 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

them  is  decay,  evidencing  the  wreck  of  superstitious  insti- 
tutions, and  the  passing  away  of  the  intolerance  and  the 
arbitrary  rule  of  the  earliest  possessors  of  the  East,  of 
which  we  read  in  the  goings  and  in  the  actions  of  their 
first  viceroys ;  but  their  impressions,  their  language,  and 
their  descendants,  still  remain  as  monuments,  though  in 
decay,  of  early  enterprise,  dominion,  and  power.  And 
the  indolent  and  not  unchivalric  Spaniard  has  left,  on  the 
western  shore  of  Southern  America,  a  race  that  has  cover- 
ed the  many  and  beautiful  provinces  on  the  coasts  washed 
by  the  Pacific,  whose  gold  and  silver  and  superstitions 
have  been  their  ruin,  but  who  are  beginning  to  exhibit  the 
evidences  of  more  than  recovering  their  downfall,  and 
elevating  themselves  to  dignity  and  worth  among  the  in- 
dependent nations  of  the  world.  And  France,  though  her 
foreign  possessions  are  few,  her  citizens  are  everywhere 
abroad,  and  amalgamate,  with  all  their  native  flexibility 
and  frugality,  with  the  descendants  of  their  European 
neighbors.  And  Americans,  those  everywhere  enterpris- 
ing and  adventurous  people,  have  been  seen  in  every  cor- 
ner of  the  globe,  careless  alike  what  revolutions  take  place, 
or  tumults  in  morals,  politics,  or  physics  occur,  provided 
they  all  contribute,  as  they  often  do,  to  fill  their  treasures 
with  the  precious  materials  from  the  mines  of  the  earth. 
And  yet  money-making  as  they  are,  they  show  themselves 
to  be  a  race  capable  of  feeling  and  acting  for  the  advance- 
ment of  their  species  universally,  in  all  that  is  intellectual 
and  moral,  as  evidenced  by  the  numbers  of  American  mis- 
sionaries abroad,  on  every  foreign  strand  of  the  main  in 
each  hemisphere,  and  almost  on  every  island  of  every  sea 
— men  and  women  too,  who  do  credit  to  American  intel- 
lect, and  American  Christianity.  And  the  superstitions 
of  heathen  nations,  in  their  thousand- formed  variety,  cruel- 
ty, deformity,  and  absurdity,  have  passed  before  our  ob- 
servation, in  contrast  with  the  benevolent,  and  lovely,  and 
elevating,  and  fit  system  of  the  religion  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

And  we  trust,  in  the  review,  that  the  movements  of  the 
squadron  have  been  attended  by  the  acquisition  of  some 
addition  of  honorable  consideration,  for  the  nation,  whose 
flag  it  has  borne,  in  courtesy  and  dignity,  around  the 


A  VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  327 

world.  The  ships  have  everywhere  done  themselves 
credit,  as  fine  models  of  their  class — for  the  order  and 
neatness  in  which  they  have  invariably  been  kept — and 
the  courteous  and  honorable  bearing  they  have  preserved, 
wherever  they  have  been.  Their  civilities  have  been  re- 
ciprocated with  apparent  cordiality  and  sincerity  of  feel- 
ing. And  while  foreign  nations  have  spoken  kind  things 
of  the  good  ships  and  the  nation  whose  courtesies  they  have 
borne,  they  have  also  served,  as  one  of  the  chief  purposes 
for  which  they  went,  to  re-assure  the  American  abroad, 
that  he  has  a  protecting  government  at  home,  which  feels 
a  care  for  the  interests  of  its  citizens  in  other  lands. 

But  on  this  cruise,  many  of  those  who  commenced  it 
have  been  left,  in  their  different  places,  to  their  long  re- 
pose of  mortality.  Of  the  frigate's  crew  more  than  sev- 
enty have  died — mostly  with  diseases  attendant  on  the 
climates  of  the  East. 

But  it  is  known  that  the  crew  of  a  man-of-war  is  often 
and  most  generally  made  up  of  men  whose  constitutions 
have  been  broken  by  previous  dissipation,  which  renders 
them  ready  victims  of  the  diseases  of  tropical  climates. 
The  scenes  which  have  been  presented  to  myself,  on  my 
rounds  among  the  ill  and  the  dying,  have  often  been  affect- 
ing. The  complaint  with  which  most  have  died,  left  the 
mind  clear  to  the  last ;  and  the  approaches  to  the  last  hour 
were  generally  known  to  the  patients  themselves.  The 
tear  of  regret,  I  have  often  seen  to  line  the  emaciated 
cheek  of  the  departing  sailor,  as  he  confessed  his  wander- 
ings and  lamented  his  delay  of  repentance  till  so  late  an 
hour.  Again,  I  have  witnessed  the  trace  of  despair  on  the 
gravely  settled  features,  as  a  hopelessness  possessed  the 
sunken  bosom.  And  again,  I  have,  sometimes,  marked 
the  relieving  light  of  hope  throwing  its  brightness  on  the 
confiding  features,  as  the  spirit  left  the  body  for  ever. 

The  cruise  of  the  world  will  have  afforded  the  lover  of 
the  natural  sciences  many  opportunities  for  gratifying  his 
curiosity,  and  for  illustrating  and  confirming  his  theories 
of  the  phenomena  of  the  earth  and  the  universe.  He  has 
seen  the  sun  and  the  moon  on  his  south  and  on  his  north ; 
and  the  northern  and  the  southern  constellations  alternately 
to  go  down  and  come  up,  as  he  receded  from  or  neared 


328          A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD. 

the  equator.  The  earth  he  has  measured  by  his  own  track. 
Ours,  on  reaching  Boston,  will  have  been  nearly  fifty  thou- 
sand miles,  on  our  traverse  from  port  to  port,  as  we  have 
accomplished  the  circuit  of  the  globe. 

And  to  regain  a  view  of  the  north  star,  an  old  familiar 
friend,  whom  we  have  several  times  lost  on  our  winding 
way  around  the  world — having  five  times  crossed  the 
equator,  on  our  cruise — is  indeed  a  welcome  incident. 
And  now,  to  read  again  the  stars  of  the  northern  hemis- 
phere is  most  acceptable,  many  of  them  having  been  for 
so  long  a  time  lost  on  our  southern  course.  They  awaken 
their  thousand  associations  of  other  days,  and  look  down 
from  their  blue  halls  upon  one  again,  with  smiles,  that 
seem  to  re-assure  him  of  a  welcome  that  shall  be  sincere, 
to  the  climes  on  which  they  for  ever  shine.  And  we  will 
trust  these  bright  omens,  as  we  continue  to  near  the  land 
of  our  homes.  We  know  that  warm  hearts  await  us,  if 
the  life-stream  is  still  coursing  them.  Solicitudes  awake, 
however,  in  the  changes  every  epistle  bears  to  us,  that 
others  yet  nearer  of  our  kindred  and  choicest  friends  may 
have  gone,  before  we  shall  re-greet  them.  But  the  Provi- 
dence which  has  been  so  favorably  directing,  towards  us, 
so  far,  is  worthy  of  our  trust ;  and  whatever  may  be  its 
metings-out,  of  good  or  ill  for  this  life,  we  will  confide  in 
the  assurance  that  "  God  doeth  all  things  well." 

THE    LINER. 

So  had  I  written,  a  few  days  since.  Our  ship  has  urged 
on  her  way,  until  to-day,  the  llth,  she  lies  on  the  parallel 
of  New-York,  distant  some  two  hundred  miles  ;  and  this 
evening,  while  the  sea  was  as  smooth  as  a  lake — the  sun 
mild — and  a  gentle  breeze  filling  the  sails,  a  large  ship, 
supposed  to  be  one  of  the  "  liners"  out  of  New- York,  was 
seen  to  be  standing  on,  with  her  studdingsails  set ;  while 
close-hauled  ourselves,  we  were  laying  across  her  track. 

The  "  liner"  coming  on,  with  the  fair  breeze  filling  her 
canvass  under  an  easy  pressure,  was  anticipated  by  the 
courteous  frigate,  as  the  men,  already  at  their  stations, 
furled  the  royals,  run  up  the  courses,  and  hauled  down  and 
stowed  the  flying-jib.  Another  moment  the  yards  of  the 


A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD.  329 

main  were  braced  aback,  and  the  frigate  slept  on  the 
waters,  as  if  she  were  a  fairy  ship,  that,  like  some  bird 
of  passage,  had,  for  one  moment,  so  bent  its  pinions  as  to 
rest  over  some  object,  which  attracted  the  gaze  of  its 
peering  eye. 

Every  eye  from  the  "  liner"  was  on  the  man-of-war. 
Long  ranges  of  passengers  were  gazing — ladies  in  their 
bonnets  and  gentlemen  in  their  hats — as  if  some  phantom- 
ship,  by  some  magic,  and  in  her  beauty,  had  suddenly 
woke  to  their  sight — for  not  a  head  aboard  the  frigate  was 
seen  above  the  bulwarks,  and  the  distant  eye,  as  it  gazed 
on  the  war-ship,  could  find  no  living  being  among  her 
rigging,  while  she  was  yet  held  in  her  place  obedient  to 
the  will,  and  every  movement  seemed  but  the  volition  of 
her  own  unread  and  quiet  bosom.  Not  a  whisper  was 
heard  aboard  the  frigate,  as  the  "  liner"  was  gliding  by, 
and  stillness  deep  as  a  death-sleep  possessed  her  decks. 
No  hail  was  given  as  the  vessels  were  now  abeam — nor 
on  board  the  frigate  could  a  being  have  been  seen,  to  an- 
swer the  hail.  Not  even  the  ripple  beneath  the  bows  of 
the  frigate  was  heard,  as  the  two  ships  glided  so  stilly  by, 
on  their  slow  and  opposite  and  even  way,  until  they  now 
began  to  recede  from  each  other,  while  the  flag  of  the 
Columbia  floated,  as  her  only  recognition,  in  its  gentle 
waves  on  the  breeze. 

I  know  not  why,  but  the  scene  had  in  it,  to  me,  the 
height  of  the  melancholy.  There  were  ranges  of  faces  on 
the  decks  of  the  passing  ship  which  I  felt  I  would  gladly 
have  recognised  and  spoken  with.  And  yet  no  word  was 
heard,  and  they  passed  on — and  not  by  uneven  steps  and 
varied  motion  that  destroys  the  spell  of  enchantment ;  but 
as  a  cloud  sails  through  the  deep  blue  of  heaven,  on  its 
soft  and  monotonous  passage,  which  causes  the  tide  of 
sadness  to  flow  uninterruptedly  out  from  the  bosom  of  him 
who  gazes  upon  its  even  course,  with  a  broken  heart. 
The  ship  had  borne  home  my  own  thoughts,  as  her  name 
and  hull  were  known  to  me.  And  in  the  combinations  of 
the  magic  scene,  I  almost  fancied  that  I  had  reached  my 
home,  and  found  it  all  as  a  deserted  hall — or,  rather,  that 
I  dreamed  that  I  was  there,  and  my  friends  that  loved  and 
whom  I  loved  came  and  gazed  kindly  on  me,  but  spoke 


330  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

not,  and  passed  on  and  away  for  ever.  I  gazed  upon  the 
slowly  receding  ship,  with  emotions  that  each  moment 
continued  to  deepen,  until  I  leaned  my  head  upon  the  net- 
tings as  I  stood  upon  the  arm-chest  of  the  quarter-deck, 
and,  burying  my  face  in  my  handkerchief,  gave  freedom 
to  the  strangely  mingling  emotions  of  my  heart.  Surely, 
man's  bosom  is  a  strange  thing,  in  the  ebb  and  flow  of  its 
tides  of  joyous  and  melancholy  emotions: 

No  scale  hath  measure  for  its  bounding  joy, 
No  number  tells  its  bitterest  alloy  ; 
And  light  and  shade  no  quicker  come  and  go, 
Than  are  the  changes  which  our  bosoms  know. 

Our  boat  had  been  lowered  as  the  "  liner"  approached  ; 
and  with  the  First  Lieutenant  in  her,  she  pulled  across  the 
bows  of  the  nearing  ship,  and  boarded  her  for  the  news. 
The  Lieutenant  brought  us  back  papers  almost  wet  from 
the  press,  and  reported  the  delight  which  our  frigate  had 
created  on  board  the  packet-ship.  In  the  language  of  her 
captain,  "  his  ship's  company  were  all  crazed,  even  to  his 
own  steward,"  most  of  them  never  having  before  met  an 
American  man-of-war  at  sea. 

The  breeze  freshened,  after  we  had  parted  with  the 
"  liner,"  and  our  ship  stood  on  her  course  during  the  night 
and  the  succeeding  day,  our  excitement  increasing  each 
league  our  good  frigate  reached  on  towards  our  port  of 
destination,  until,  this  morning,  the  thirteenth  of  June, 
twenty-eight  days  from  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  sandy  shore 
of  Cape  Cod  is  seen  to  stretch  along  its  golden  rim — gold- 
en to  us,  however  barren  to  those  who  till  it,  for  it  is  the 
long  hoped-for  strand  of  our  native  land,  that  was  destined 
to  give  us  welcome  again  to  the  shores  of  our  western 
homes.  Nor  could  those  same  banks,  with  here  and  there 
the  fields  of  turf  and  distant  hamlet  and  church,  in  con- 
trast with  their  sandy  sides,  have  been  more  grateful  to 
the  sight  of  the  weather-beaten  pilgrims  of  the  May- 
Flower,  than  to  the  vision  of  ourselves,  on  our  return  to 
end  our  pilgrimage  around  the  world.  And  it  has  now 
been  accomplished.  The  ship  still  stood  in — the  Boston 
light  loomed  on  the  view — a  hundred  sails  were  seen 
gliding  along  the  coast — the  pilot  received  on  board — 
and,  while  I  write,  the  nine  o'clock  music  is  heard,  as  the 


A  VOYAGE  AROUND  THE  WORLD.          331 

tattoo  rolls  through  the  ship,  now  lying  at  her  rest  and 
anchors,  off  the  lighthouse  of  Boston  harbor.* 

The  boat  has  gone  with  our  letters,  telling  our  friends 
that  we  are  again  in  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  we  soon  will  present  ourselves  for  their  cordial  wel- 
come and  affectionate  embrace. 

And  it  is  to  this  re-greeting  of  friends  and  kindred,  that 
the  returning  voyager  gives  his  thoughts,  with  concen- 
trating feelings,  as  the  anchors  of  his  ship  drop  again  in 
the  waters  of  his  own  beloved  country.  The  memories 
of  enjoyed  scenes  among  those  friends,  now  fill  his  fancies 
with  visions  more  dear  than  any  foreign  recollections  can 
awaken.  And  with  his  friends  again  he  will  rest,  after  a 
succession  of  changes  which  have  begun  to  tire,  however 
interesting  they  may  have  been,  in  the  variety  they  have 
presented.  And  it  will  be  a  welcome  rest,  amid  welcome 
circumstances.  Such,  at  least,  are  the  emotions  of  my 
own  bosom, — such  the  combinations  of  my  own  fancies. 
And  I  wait  but  the  coming  of  the  orders  from  the  depart- 
ment, which  will  bear  the  leaves  of  absence  to  the  offi- 
cers of  the  ship,  to  realize  all  that  fancy  dreams  and 
bosoms  feel,  on  the  return  of  one  with  warm  attachments 
to  kindred,  than  whom  none  can  be  more  endeared ;  and 
to  a  home,  than  which  none  can  be  more  beloved.  At 
such  a  moment  and  with  such  feelings,  it  is  fit  to  termi- 
nate this  manuscript.  And  though  all  the  associations  of 
the  following  lines  may  not  be  exclusively  connected  with 
the  descriptions  of  these  volumes,  now  ending,  they  yet 
emblem  forth  the  present  feelings  of  the  writer,  as 

THE  TRAVELLER'S  RETURN  TO  HIS  OWN  DEAR  HOME. 

I've  wandered  'mid  palaces  where  pleasures  are  known, 
And  I've  traversed  the  ocean  where  the  blue  waves  foam ; 
I've  mingled  with  great  ones,  seen  the  gay  earth, 
But  found  nought  so  dear  as  my  own  native  hearth : 

Home,  home,  yes,  I  come, 
Oh  welcome  me  back  again,  my  own  dear  home. 

I've  strolled  on  the  sea-shores,  'neath  suns  ever  mild ; 
And  I've  trailed  with  the  Indian  his  dark  wooded  wild ; 
I've  wandered  on  mountain  tops,  in  valleys  below, 
But  the  warm-gush  of  home-love  dearer  would  flow. 

*  The  corvette  arrived  in  safety  a  day  or  two  after  us 


332  A    VOYAGE    AROUND    THE    WORLD. 

I've  breathed  with  the  Zenian*  in  his  own  inner  land, 
The  aroma  of  his  teas,  and  the  flowers  from  his  hand ; 
But  the  cup  and  the  flower  have  a  richness  more  dear 
Round  the  board  and  the  mantel  where  my  kindred  are  near. 

I've  read  the  bright  night-lights  that  fairer  have  shown 
From  a  deeper  blue  vault  than  smiles  o'er  my  home  ; 
But  longest  I've  gazed  on  a  pale  northern  star, 
That  pointed  to  the  land  where  my  home  lay  afar. 

I've  gazed  on  the  disk  of  the  pale  beaming  moon, 
As  she  rode  in  her  cloud-car  high  in  her  noon ; 
But  her  wake  on  the  wave  as  she  waned  to  her  rest, 
Bore  on  my  sad  thoughts  to  my  home  in  the  West. 

I've  sat  by  the  gifted,  as  the  fair  one  hath  swept 
The  strings  of  the  lyre  while  the  paean  slept ; 
But  the  spell  of  the  lyre  that  thrilled  the  fond  breast, 
Hath  served  but  to  bear  me  to  my  home  in  the  West. 

At  far  distant  altars  in  worship  I've  bowed, 

But  not  as  a  stranger  I  prayed  with  the  crowd ; 

For  the  same  hallowed  prayers,  f  my  heart  oft  would  melt 

In  the  ever-loved  temple,  at  home,  as  I  knelt 

And  on  my  lone  cot  when  my  pulses  ran  low, 
And  the  fever's  wild  beat  hath  throbbed  my  pale  brow, 
I've  heard,  in  my  dream,  the  death-plunge  to  the  deep, 
But  I  prayed,  with  my  kindred,  at  last,  I  might  sleep. 

However  kind  strangers  in  splendor  have  come 
To  proffer  the  traveller  their  friendship  and  home, 
The  smile  of  the  wise,  the  caress  of  the  gay, 
Withheld  not  his  thoughts  from  the  dearer  than  they. 

In  shadows  of  evening  when  day  melts  away, 
And  memories  of  home  o'er  the  heart  hold  their  sway, 
Affection's  fond  tears  their  barriers  o'ercome, 
And  the  spell  that  is  on  me  cries  back  to  my  home. 

No  more  then  I'll  roam  from  the  land  of  my  birth 
To  gaze  on  the  world  in  its  splendor  or  mirth  ; 
'Twill  more  than  suffice  that  I've  learned  its  false  glare, 
As  the  days  of  my  future  with  loved  ones  I  share : 

Home,  home,  ay,  I  come, 
And  ever  I'll  cling  to  thee,  my  own  dear  home. 

*  Zenia  is  the  ancient  name  of  China.  t  Service  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 


THE    END. 


